End Game Version R
by Kur0Kishi
Summary: A rewritten version of the original End Game, with bigger focus on characters and even more badassery.
1. Humble Beginnings

**End Game: Ver R Chapter 1**

**Humble Beginnings**

**Disclaimer : Disclaimer : I don't own anything. Don't own Highschool Dragons of Dragons or Naruto. I do own the concepts and plots that I introduced into the story. Also, because of the connection between Highschool Dxd and multiple Relions and Myths, I am sorry if I have accidentally written something wrong and offended someone's belief/faith etc. I just did some basic research and filled the holes in by myself so it is only natural if I get something wrong.**

We talked it over and decided that we didn't really like the way the original End Game was going, more to the point that Kishi liked the crazy awesome he was writing and the skill set we gave him, but he wasn't satisfied with the way we rushed it or the way we started out with Naruto. He wants to properly build up characters and flesh them out, so we're going to take it a few steps back.

******End Game******

Everyone knew that God and Satan didn't get along; it was like a fundamental truth of the world that every child learned before they lost their first molar. Bad and Good didn't mix because that's how the world was supposed to be. There were things that decent people just didn't do and everyone knew those basic rules kept the world spinning.

Except one particular person though it could be argued that instead of ignorance, he really just couldn't bring himself to care about petty things like that. He had more important things to worry about, like that hole in his shoe that made walking extremely uncomfortable.

As Issei Hyoudou made his way down a street with a smile as bright as the setting sun, hand in hand with his new girlfriend, his cheeks began to flush with a nervous energy when the sweet, innocent girl he was beginning to fall in love with led him into a deserted park with a rather naughty and inviting smile that sent his little brother into overdrive.

He never even knew that she could smile like that and the gap between her naughty side and her usually more reserved side was… more than a little arousing.

As the two of them sat side by side on the edge of a little fountain with a certain comfortable silence, their lips drew closer and closer with every passing second, never losing sight of each other's gaze as if their eyes could peer deep into each other's soul when Yuuma whispered his ear seductively, "Will you do something for me, Issei-kun?"

"Wha-wha-what is it?"

Of course, that was the point at which he discovered something else he didn't know about innocent little Yuuma Amano.

"Will you die for me?"

Like how she could turn her hand into a clawed paw before she tried to spear him with it before someone kicked him out of the way.

His kicker, a tall boy with shaggy yellow hair and strange scars running along his cheeks stood there with a frown on his face.

Now, as we were saying, there was someone who really didn't care about things like that.

Issei Hyoudou is not that person. In fact, he was quite put out with the attempted murder.

"I would thank you to take your lover's quarrel somewhere else," The blond boy noted with a flat tone as he ignored her large black raven wings, "I don't care if he cheated on you until you have to kill him but I happen to live over there," He jerked his chin in the direction of the wooded area in that park, "and I don't appreciate having to clean up a murder scene just so that I don't get questioned by the police. It's kinda troublesome."

Ordinarily, Issei would be rather annoyed if someone kicked him into a pool just before he got his first kiss, but at the moment he was a little too busy gaping at the strange looking boy who was wearing his school's uniform and the fact that he had almost been killed by his soon to be ex girlfriend, "Wait you! I know you! You're that delinquent from my school!"

"Yes… I'm sure my uniform didn't have anything to do with that," Clear blue eyes glanced at him dismissively before he turned back to the dark haired girl who was glaring at him, her beautiful face twisted spitefully, "Now can you please kill him somewhere else? There's a nice abandoned factory somewhere on the other side of town that would be much less conspicuous."

"Hey! I saw you this morning too!"

The strange boy gave Issei a mild look, "You're not very bright are you? Isn't this is the part where people usually run away from someone who just tried to manually remove your guts?"

"No one," The girl who once looked like a gift from heaven said with a vicious hiss before she flicked her wrist, "Is running away."

The boy blinked at the spear of light that suddenly protruded from his chest, "Ah crap… I was going to wear this until the week ended…" He mumbled before falling over backwards.

In front of him, Issei stared at the identical shaft of light that had just destroyed his heart. Red liquid started to seep out from his chest, tainting the clear fountain water with a pinkish red hue.

"I'm sorry about this," She said, her voice was fading away nor did it even sound remotely sorry, "You were a threat to us, so we decided to get rid of you early. If you want to hold a grudge, then hate the God who put the Sacred Gear inside you." She turned to the blond delinquent who was sprawled on a pool of spreading blood, "You however, were just in the way. Serves you right for interfering in something, if you hadn't, you might have been able to live your pathetic life a little longer."

Her words seemed to invigorate the dying blond as his fingers scrabbled at the earth feebly.

One of Yuuma's delicate eyebrows rose curiously at how the blond was not dead yet. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she could swear that the hole in the middle of his chest seemed to be trying to knit itself back together but the corrosive properties of her light prevented any sort of healing.

"This stupid pebble is so uncomfortable…" the blond moaned lowly, "Is a comfortable death too much to ask for?"

She rolled her eyes and her wings spread with a loud clap of air.

On the ground, the blond boy could vaguely hear the sounds of flapping receing into the distance but he still couldn't get up. It didn't really hurt per se, but the spear seemed to numb his entire body, paralyzing him.

How interesting.

"Oya? What is this?" He heard a faint feminine voice floating over to his dying ears.

"There seems… we planned…. Mistress." The voices seemed to pan in and out of his fading consciousness, "What… we do?"

The first person seemed to hesitate, "He… helped… Hyoudo-kun." He felt a small, almost tiny hand softly brush his yellow, blood stained bangs back and caress his cheek with a gentleness he had not experienced in a long time.

A hand pressed onto his chest and he felt something warm wash on him, "But he… no Gears. No special talents. Nothing…. Not even a smidge of potential. If we waste a piece on him, all we would get is a simple, low class foot soldier."

He felt a little offended at that and tried to say something but his throat still wouldn't cooperate, only barely managing a tiny insulted gurgle.

He heard two feminine gasps of surprise, "He's still alive!" the second person muttered.

"We might as well… won't even need a piece for this. Bind… to me… a free pawn…. Low class foot soldier… won't hurt…"

That was about all he could take as a peaceful blackness blanketed his consciousness entirely.

******End Game******

Blue eyes snapped open warily and wildly swung around the plain white walls of a room while the smell of bleach and clean linen pervaded his nose. Grunting, the blond slowly pulled himself upright from the comfortable bed before he looked downwards and poked his chest where a hole was meant to be.

"How interesting…" Sighing in some relief, he let his hands fall when he felt something warm underneath his palm. The strange froze before his eyes drifted towards his palm.

Giving the mound of flesh of squeeze that prompted a moan from the sleeping girl, the blond sighed again. Shifting his weight, he calmly got out of the infirmary's bed and shrugged on a shirt that had been laid out on the next bed. With almost impeccable calm, he glanced at his bed mate. Her deep crimson hair fanned out on the bed, standing out magnificently against the white cloth before he carefully tucked the sleeping girl back into bed.

"We couldn't find out where you lived you know."

Someone suddenly spoke, prompting the blond to whirl around and narrow his eyes at the girl leaning on the wall with a noble atmosphere around her. Her long glossy hair fell down her shoulders in a neat ribboned pony tail and her arms were folded under her sizable bust, "Uzumaki Naruto."

The blond nodded dispassionately as he immediately placed a name to the second voice he remembered from last night, "Akeno Himejima." He said with a nod of acknowledgement, "So? What are you guys?" He asked in a casual manner that caused one of her eyebrows to rise as he brushed his long shaggy hair back, deftly tying it into a rough pony tail with a piece of twine.

"We are Devils from the House of Gremory, one of 72 noble demonic families." She jerked her chin at the sleeping head, "That's Rias Gremory, current Head of House."

"How remarkable." The eyebrow rose even higher as the blond continued to button up his shirt with a completely unconcerned remark.

"I didn't recognize you last night because of all the blood," She said coolly as she poured a cup of hot tea for herself, "But I didn't expect to find a classmate literally dying from kindness last night. Tea?"

"One, no sugar." The blond accepted the poercelaine cup of steaming liquid before snorting, "Kindness? Letting him die on my front lawn was just too much trouble." He gave her a curious look, "The boy IS alive isn't he? You two didn't eat him or something right? That's what Devils do right?"

"We're Devils, not Cannibals." The raven haired girl frowned, "And don't speak as if you're not one of us. When Rias Gremory brought you back, you became a devil under her authority. There is no going back to your human life."

Naruto shrugged and sipped his tea before pausing to stare at it, "This is good."

"Thank you." Akeno accepted the compliment with a graceful nod.

"Sure doesn't feel any different on this side of the fence though. I always figured the first thing I'd do if I became a Devil was to go berserk and rampage on some poor innocent village." He commented with a strangely wry and unconcerned smile.

Akeno blinked and shrugged off his strange joke, "What did you mean by front lawn? We couldn't find any of your records other than a birth certificate."

"I would surprised if you did." The blond noted with a smirk, looking around, he located his shoes and slipped them on, "By the way, does she always sleep with strangers while she's naked?"

Her dark eyes shifted towards her sleeping friend, "Not always." Akeno replied, "But after healing Issei-san, she refused to let me help her and forced herself to heal you as well before she dropped from sheer fatigue." Her gaze returned to the calm blond, "Don't change the topic by the way. Where do you live?"

"I **changed **the topic." The blond countered just as calmly, "Because as far as you're concerned, I live on a street called 'None of your business.' By the way, may I know how you made this tea?"

While it was certainly understandable that most people would refuse to acknowledge something as traumatic as their own deaths, something about the way he accepted the situation with an efficient equanimity really frustrated the statuesque beauty standing by the exit. Annoyed by his unwillingness to cooperate, Akeno tried another way to get information from him, "No you may not." It was a little childish, she admitted to herself mentally, but she couldn't help but feel a little satisfaction at denying him something the same way he was denying her the information she wanted, "Unless you can explain why you're taking all this so well?"

The blond blinked, "You mean what happened last night was supposed to be strange?"

"I don't think people who can fly or bring the dead back to life can be considered normal, do you?"

"Then you'd be pretty surprised." Naruto observed with another one of his crooked smiles, "Incidentally, if I can't have your tea recipe, can I keep this?" He plucked his new shirt, "This is pretty comfortable and I lost my last one."

"We already saved your life, what's one more shirt?" the raven haired girl said with a snide smile as she pulled out her last trump card.

"I didn't ask you to save it." Naruto remarked just as snidely, "So… shirt?"

Akeno sighed, "Take it. We'll contact you again with more information."

"I really rather that you didn't."

Dark black eyes sent him a hard look. Placing her own cup of boiling tea down silently, she stalked towards the strangely unconcerned blond and jabbed one finger into his chest, "You are bound to us now whether you like it or not. Your life is tied to my Master. You owe us, and we always collect."

Dispassionately, the blond removed the finger from his chest and shrugged before leaving the room without another word, pausing only to complain quietly about the linoleum floor's coldness that seeped through the hole in his shoe.

Placing two fingers on her temple to rub away the growing headache, Akeno stared at the quietly breathing Rias, "Well, that wasn't helpful at all."

"At least we got Issei-san back to his house without any further complication." The red haired princess mumbled sleepily.

"I take it you heard everything, Ria?"

Pale white skin shifted under the blanket as she stretched gloriously, "Almost everything. You knew him?"

Akeno nodded, "He's my classmate, a sponsored student under the scholarship for orphans. He has abysmal marks in everything except Traditional Japanese and he is constantly late. His blond hair, blue eyes and those scars on his cheeks doesn't help his image either, so almost everybody avoids him."

The elegant girl decided not to mention the fact that those very same attributes also seemed to mark him as a susceptible target for bullying. The only problem with that however, was the fact that every time he was targeted for bullying, the culprit invariably ended up severely injured. The last one had ordered him to buy some cigarettes for him. They found him the next morning with 9000 burnt cigarettes and a toilet plunger shoved up his posterior. Almost everyone looked at the blond fearfully, but there was simply no proof that he was involved in it outside of simple coincidence since he always had a rock solid alibi with at least three different witnesses swearing that they saw him at any given time and the case was written off as teenage vandalism while the bully was shipped off for stealing.

"If he's under Nii-san's scholarship, how come I don't know about him?" Rias questioned as she got out of bed without any shame whatsoever as she paced the infirmary in her birthday suit.

"I would be surprised if you did." Her best friend commented viviously, "If Issei-san is the epitome of averageness with the exception of his remarkable lust then Uzumaki-san is an exemplary bottom feeder who only stands out because he fails so badly."

"Be nice, Akeno." Rias sighed, "He's still one of us now, even if he doesn't seem to like it. For now, let us deal with Issei-san. Hopefully he will be more receptive."

The dark haired girl smiled a bit wanly, "I'm sorry, his lackadaisical attitude towards the school and indirectly, your generosity in helping him go to school just rubs me the wrong way."

"Plus you're irritated from having to stand watch the whole night to make sure he didn't molest me." Ria added with an amused smile.

Akeno stopped herself mid yawn and gave her best friend an embarrassed glare, "That's only because you're heavy too move!" She snapped childishly.

The argument very quickly devolved into a childish fit of insult throwing after that.

******End Game******

The blond grunted as he ran one hand through his long shaggy hair, for some reason, his body felt extremely heavy and lethargic.

One pained blue eye glanced out the window and noted that the sun was just about to go down while another look at the worn watch strapped to his wrist told him that he had slept almost for almost 24 hours.

"You!" a finger stabbed the air in his direction as a boy suddenly shouted, sending a sinking suspicion down Naruto's back that the day wasn't over yet as a familiar looking student hurried towards him.

"Oh gods above and below, spare me this headache." Naruto muttered under his breath, "You already took my life, what more do you want?" he silently pleaded to thin air. Sadly, his prayers went unanswered as he felt someone grabbing his arm.

"You were there last night, you remember her right?!" The brown haired boy uttered with an almost frantic light in his eyes, "No one knows her anymore, but you do right?!"

"You mean the stabby boob flasher from last night?"

"YES!"

"Nope. Doesn't ring a bell." Naruto cut off his triumphant celebration flatly as he pushed past the suddenly disappointed boy.

"Oh…." Naruto had barely gone down the corridor a few yards before Issei suddenly perked up again, "Hey, wait! How'd you know if she flashed her boobs if you never met her before!?"

"Lots of people flash their boobs at me." Naruto commented dryly, "Just as many people try to stab me as well."

The boy blinked, "Really? They flash you just like that?"

"No. I lied."

"GAH! Wait up, c'mon! Something seriously strange is going on."

Naruto resolutely kept his eyes in front of him as he ignored the pest's continual questions with remarkable fortitude, even though their little, noisy rapport drew them a lot of attention from curious bystanders. He was so focused on ignoring Issei that he didn't even realize that his soreness slowly melted away as the sun faded.

His little strategy was actually working pretty well, and continued working right up until they reached the same park from the night before.

Of course, Naruto being Naruto, was already driven halfway mad by the unending stream of questions and begging. The blond was very seriously contemplating murder when someone did the job for him by putting a spear of light through the dark haired boy's guts. Issei immediately fell to his knees with a earth shattering scream of pain.

The blond however, whipped around, half expecting the crazy girl with wings to be there again but instead of a insane girl in bondage gear, there was only an old looking man with a perverted leer pasted to his thin lips.

"Well… what do we have here, two low ranking Devils? Your Master must be pretty very low ranking if he was desperate enough chose this place as a territory-"

He was cut off by a screech from the blond one with scars on his cheeks, "GAAAH! Why do people keep dying on my fucking garden?! Do you people NOT know how impolite that is?! That's it, I'm **moving**! To some deep, fucking, peaceful forest somewhere!"

His rant was so surprising that the startled man had no idea how to react when Naruto brushed past him before diving into the foliage. There was some rustling before the blond reappeared with a packed tent slung neatly rolled up and stacked on top of a worn and old hiking bag that contained all his belongings. Several dented pots and pans were strung up around the dirty green bag, making a loud clanking sound as the blond tried to hustle past the old man without a word.

"Hold it, Stray. You're not going anywhere."

Naruto groaned as a spear made of almost solid light buried itself by his legs, barring his path forward. He was about to start cursing the old man when two more newcomers made their appearance, "I found the two of you, so I get to kill you."

"Good evening, Fallen Angel-san." The one at the front said in a chillingly polite tone as she stepped around the blond to shield him while her friend hovered near Issei, healing him with some sort of magic glow. Rias sketched a light bow, "I certainly have no grudge against you personally, but if you try to harm my cute little servants and further, I'm afraid that I may have to interfere."

The fallen angel opened his mouth to retort but Naruto beat him to the punch, "I don't care what you two do to each other, beat each other into bleeding lumps of flesh for all I care, but do you mind if I leave first?"

"Shhh." Rias hushed him, "You're still an untrained soldier, you might be able to defeat him with some training but right now you are not strong enough."

"No… I'm fairly sure I can deal with a perver-"

"Unfortunately you don't have all the pieces of the puzzle. This man is not just any pervert nor is he one you can deal with." Rias cut him off resolutely before she patted his cheek softly, "It's alright, Naruto-san, I'll protect you." Her crimson hair flowed in the calm evening breeze as she smiled at him reassuringly the way a big sister would to her baby brother, "Just trust me."

He almost threw a tantrum right there and then.

Never had he met someone so stubborn and make it insulting at the same time.

Ever look in the mirror? He heard a deep, gruff sound answer him from deep inside his psyche before chuckling.

The Uzumaki drew a deeeep calming breath before he dropped his pack. "Fine. Whatever. Do as you like." He threw his hands up in the air and sat down on it and crossed his legs with an exasperated look plastered on his face.

"…Fufu. Looks like your little spat is finally over. So these two belong to you? Does that mean this town is under your protection?" At her stiff nod, the man sighed reluctantly and continued with a another wistful look at the two of them, "Well then. For today, I will apologise. But I advise you not to let your servant loose. People like me might slay him while having a walk."

"Thanks for the advice. This town is under my surveillance. So if you get in my way, then I won't hold back."

"I will say the same to you, heiress of the House of Gremory. My name is Donaseek." The man in the grey frock announced proudly, "I hope we won't meet again."

The man spreads his black wings, and his body started to float. Sending one last glare at the four of them, the man disappeared into the dark night sky.

******End Game******

The next day, Naruto sighed as he was immediately thrust into the limelight by a certain stubborn magical princess who had insisted that he follow a platinum blond boy that he had never met before.

The harsh, questioning words slid of his back about as easily as water of a duck, he had never cared about them before, and that wasn't changing anytime soon.

Although if the way Issei was sweating buckets as they headed for this clubroom was any indication the brown haired boy was just about ready to bolt for the nearest hole. Watching him piss his pants would be interesting.

Unfortunately for the blond, his new comrade managed to hold it in until the three of them reached the relative safety of a large, mansion-like structure in the old section of the school.

"This is where our clubroom is located. I hope that you'll enjoy your time with us." Their guardian commented with a polite yet curious smile as he began climbing the ostentatious stair case that took them up to the second floor. His soft, pale yellow curls shifting across turquoise orbs as he kept an eye on the two newcomers; the much taller blond and the thinner, smaller brown haired boy who was fidgeting beside him.

Naruto quirked one eyebrow as he heard the brown haired boy mutter something, "You know him?"

"Who doesn't?" Issei replied quietly with a spiteful look, "Kiba Yuuto, Kuou Academy's Number 1 best looking Prince.

"I don't apparently." Naruto noted dryly, "Never heard of him."

"I wouldn't have expected someone like you to. You're about as famous as him though, or rather, infamous." Issei remarked, "Uzumaki Naruto, Kuou Academy's biggest delinquent."

"You know, if we're going to be friends and everything, you might want to be a little nicer."

"Says the guy who wanted to let me die."

"Touché. How bout I buy a lollipop for you as an apology?"

He sounded so sincere that Issei couldn't help but stare at him incredulously while Kiba led them into an inner chamber with a chuckle. Inside the lavish room, a small white haired girl sat alone on a couch while she nibbled at some Japanese sweets, her large sleepy looking eyes were rooted on them as the two of them awkwardly sat as far away from each other and everybody else, resolutely avoiding Kiba's gaze and the small girl's emotionless stare.

"Koneko-chan," Kiba began introducing them to her after another quiet laugh, "This is Hyoudo Issei-kun and the bigger one is Uzumaki Naruto. You two, this is Toujou Koneko-chan."

Returning the small girl's light acknowledging nod with one of his own, Naruto satisfied himself by looking around the room like a country bumpkin, looking all for the world as if he had never seen anything so obscenely extravagant.

Which was sort of true, but they didn't need to know that.

From the other room, they heard the sound of water cascading down a drain, as if someone was having a shower, obviously making Issei even more nervous as he gave his blond companion a look every once in a while, wishing that Naruto would at least look a little nervous or ashamed at his embarrassingly open curiosity.

It didn't take long for Akeno and Rias to make their appearance from the other room. The red haired princess took a seat at the head of the table while Akeno bustled around the table, serving everyone a hot cup of tea before she made her way to the head of the table, standing attentively beside her club president, only giving the blond who had the gall to completely ignore both of them a glare every now and then.

"I'll get to the point right away," after everyone had nodded their thanks for the beverage, Koneko's with a slightly pained look due to her burned tongue, Rias began; her long soft crimson hair ran down the front of her dress like a stream of hot blood, "We are all Devils."

Issei gulped.

Naruto…. Was poking at a painting and wondering if it made good firewood.

The nights here tended to get rather cold after all, quite unlike his home where it was permanently sweltering.

"We, the Devils, have been at war with the Fallen Angels since ancient times. We have been fighting over the possession of the Underworld, which is also known as Hell in the human world. The Underworld is split into two areas, one for Devils and one for Fallen Angels. The Devils form pacts with humans and receive their sacrifices and increase their strength. The Fallen Angels on the other hand control humans to eliminate Devils. At this point the Angels come in to destroy these two races on God's orders, which creates the three forces. This has been going on since ancient times."

As they began talking about Issei's murderous ex girlfriend, the blond boy only kept half an ear on the conversation as he edged around the room, more interested in the upholstery.

That and ignoring Rias obviously annoyed the black haired one, which was all good as far as he was concerned. He could even hear the sound of wood creaking under her grip as she clutched at the chair to stop herself from lunging at him bodily.

As the conversation turned to their new duties as Rias' servants, something about going out and granting wishes for humans, acquiring the power of their desires as fuel for their powers, the blond finally had had enough.

"That's alright." Naruto spoke up, causing everyone stare at him for cutting Rias off halfway, "I'll have to say no to that, I kinda already have a job."

Rias who didn't seem put off at all by his interruption only gave him a concerned look, "Are you sure? At the moment, your base powers are pretty low. If you don't start now, you may never graduate as a higher Devil."

"That's right, Naruto-san!" Issei said with a glint in his eyes, "You can get your own harem you know!" He was so excited by the prospect of his own harem that he forgot to be rude to the blond.

Naruto gave the boy a disturbed look, "That's…. alright, I think I'll be just fine without a group of girls continuously looking after my every whim and desire."

Issei looked like he had been slapped as the blond casually blasphemed his religion.

On the other side of the room, the chair finally surrendered to Akeno's grip and splintered as she shot upwards. But before she could speak her mind, Rias laid a calming hand on her friend's arm, "It's alright, Akeno. He'll understand his mistake when the time comes. I only hope it won't be too late."

"Don't worry, I won't." Naruto replied in an unconcerned manner before adding, "By the way… I don't suppose you want that chair anymore right?"

Rias glanced at the broken piece of furniture and found a small laugh bubbling form inside her at his strange request, "Fufufu, it's alright. You can have it."

"Thanks! That will do nicely." Happily, Naruto quite politely stepped around Akeno and hefted the broken chair onto his shoulders and left with a cheerful whistle.

It was roughly a week later that Naruto was roughly brought back to reality by an unpleasant messenger.

Holding one kerchief to her nose, Akeno looked around the shabby ramen shop with undisguised disdain, "Is Uzumaki-san here? I was told that he works part time here."

The old owner, a doddling old man who could barely straight anymore found that other parts of his body worked fine as he stared at the beautiful, raven haired Yamato Nadeshiko, his gums opened and closed soundlessly. Well hey there sex drive, I thought you already died in some dark corner somewhere.

"It's alright, Oya-san." The blond calmly led the old man back into his shop with a resigned expression, "I'll handle this."

Returning back to the front of the shabby store, Naruto gave the raven haired girl a dry look, "Can I help you?"

"There's something on tonight. Buchou wants you to properly see something before it's too late."

"Can I-"

"No." Akeno cut him off shortly, "She explicitly told me to wait here and make sure you arrive in time."

"Well, there goes my early night. When should I get ready?"

"You can get ready now."

The blond pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, "Give me ten minutes while I let the owner know I have something I need to do."

As she gave him a severe nod, the blond bustled back into the bowels of the shop. It didn't take him long to persuade the old man that he had something urgent to do, though Naruto suspected that it had more to do with the fact that he made the blond promise to bring his beautiful little friend back to the shop as often as possible.

A few minutes later, the blond made his reappearance with his apron hung over one shoulder and dressed in his school uniform again. Wrinkling her nose at the offensive smell from his apron, Akeno made sure to stay at least five paces away from him as the two of them trekked down the road as a resigned Naruto followed behind the vice president of his not so voluntary club.

"You'd be a lot more pleasant if you smiled a little more you know."

"And you'd be a lot more pleasant as well if you didn't come quite so near me."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think she didn't like me." The blond muttered under his breath. Unfortunately her sharp ears, enhanced by nightfall heard him quite clearly.

"No." She whirled around with a hard look on her beautiful face, "No, I don't."

"Why though?" Naruto asked quite calmly as the two of them stopped in the middle of the road. A stiflingly oppressive atmosphere hung above the two of them, "No matter what I did, it just annoyed you for some reason."

Even Issei, as perverted as he was, got a far warmer reception from the vice president.

"I don't care if you don't like the situation you are currently in, in fact, I could accept it if you refused to listen to us because of your denial." Akeno stalked towards him with a fire burning in her bosom, "The problem here stems from the fact that you _aren't _in denial. You accepted everything quite easily but it's the way you accepted it so nonchalantly before brushing it off as unimportant, almost like a fly off your shoulder, even though Buchou has made every effort to welcome you into our family, even specifically asking for your presence to day so that you will understand your mistake. I don't care if you spit on me, but if you spit on her kindness, you WILL have to deal with me."

"Even if I don't _want _her to be kind to me?" Naruto asked with one raised eyebrow at the sparks running off her skin.

"_Especially _if you don't want her to be kind to you." Akeno hissed quietly.

"Just answer me one thing." He gestured at this body with a pained expression that told Akeno he was genuinely frustrated by the situation, "There's no way out of this… _servitude_?"

"None, unless she voluntarily releases you, but she can only do that once you have served the minimum number of years." Akeno replied curtly, "Until then, your life is now bonded to hers as much as mine is. You can still be a Peer and gain a title, but in the end, you are beholden to her just as your own Pieces will be until you are released."

"Did you… die as well?"

"_That_ is something I would like to consider none of your business." She remarked frostily.

Naruto smiled wryly, "And here I thought we were making progress in our relationship."

"Just walk, Uzumaki-san."

******End Game******

As the two individuals crest the last hill, Rias had to blink as the slightly taller of the two sent her a lazy wave. She felt a slow smile spread across her lips and nodded regally as Naruto and Akeno finally joined the small group waiting outside an abandoned house. Something had changed, she didn't know what, but it was encouraging for the young Devil, perhaps it had been right for her to send his classmate to get him after all.

he entire Occult Research club was standing outside what seemed like a desolate abandoned building on the outskirts of town.

Leaving the blond's side, Akeno stepped up beside Rias calmly and began to explain it for the newcomers benefit, "Yesterday we received an order from the Arch Duke, There's an exiled demon in Rias-sama's territory and as the demon's officially in charge of this area it's our job to terminate it and we have tracked it down to this place."

"Te-terminate it?"

A sly smile appeared on the red haired she devil's lips, "Yes. This will be a good chance to show the both of you how demons seriously fight." Arching an eyebrow at the placid blond she continued, "Maybe then some of you will take your job more seriously as well."

"Wait, are you serious!?" Issei stuttered, "I'm positive that I won't be of much use!"

"Yes. It's still impossible now, even though you have ran a few tasks, both of you are still at the level of a slightly stronger than average human." Issei's shoulders slumped down in despair at being told so bluntly that he was useless while Naruto merely huffed, "That being said, you can still watch what a devils' battle is like." The read headed president of the Occult Club tipped her chin as if just only thinking of something, "Oh yes. I will also explain the traits the servants have."

"Explain? The traits servants have?"

The newest member of the club shared a equally confused look but the President continued speaking anyway.

"Devils who become a master can give certain traits to those who will become their servants. Yes it's probably about time I explain about it and the history of devils..."

"There was a three sided war between the devils, the fallen angels, and God with its angels followers. All three sides had a large army and they fought for almost eternity because all three sides were so evenly matched. As a result, all three sides lost most of their troops and the war finished several hundred years ago with no side winning."

Kiba continued after Buchou.

"The devils were no exception. High ranking devils with peerage who commanded about 20 or 30 troops lost most of their underlings because of the war. At the time, a majority of all the armies of Hell consisted of what we call pure blooded demons but because of the high amount of deaths among the demon population, demons with rank and titles couldn't even form new armies any longer." He smiled vaguely, "To be honest, I'm pretty new as well, but I heard that most of the pure devils passed away in that war. But even after the war, there are still problems between the devils, the fallen angels and God. Even though the fallen angels and God's side suffered similar losses, we are still in a position where we can't let our guard down or else we will be in trouble."

Then Buchou spoke again.

"Thus the devils decided to use a system to form a small group of soldiers. And that is the Evil Piece."

"In other words, all three sides screwed each other over a war and you are now reduced to hiring mercenaries to fight the battle for you because you don't want to stop fighting." Naruto concluded blandly.

"That is a fairly accurate summary of the situation," Rias admitted with a slightly shamefaced expression. Prompting Akeno to give him a hard look before she continued for her President,

"As Buchou was saying, Devils with peerage decide to use the traits of the human's game "chess" to their servant devils. There was a certain irony to the whole situation because most of the servants are devils that were reincarnated from humans, in other words half bloods. Since then chess became a popular game in the world of the devils. We'll leave that aside. Devils who are masters are given the rank of "King". In our case that is me. From there they created 5 special traits which consisted of the Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight and Pawn. Since they couldn't make an army, they decided to have a small number of devils and the system would give them enormous powers in order to compensate. This system was made in the past few hundred years ago, and became unexpectedly popular amongst devils with peerage as a form of entertainment as well as a method of settling conflicts without exaggerated losses."

"Popular? You mean the chess rule?"

"They started to compete against each other. For example like, "My knight is stronger!", or "No, my rook is stronger!" As a result high-class devils started to play a game like that of chess against each other using their servant devils. We call it the "Rating Game". Anyway this game became very popular amongst the devils. Now there are even tournaments for it. The strength of their "pieces" and also how strong they are at the game affects the devils' social position, and their peerage. There is a thing called "Piece collect" where they gather humans with talents and make them into their pieces. It is very popular recently. To sum it up, the more talented their servants are and the better they do in these Rating Games, the better their status in our society."

Issei nodded slowly, "I see. So being a influential player in that game means that you are a splendid devil. It also becomes your pride then. Ummmm... and at the moment many of the servants devils have now were former humans and they function by becoming pieces in the game. I feel it's complicated. So will I be someday forced to fight in that game?"

"I'm not a matured devil yet, so I can't participate in a formal tournament. Even if I could, there are things that I need to go through or else I can't play. In short, none of you will be participating in a game for a while yet."

"So none of you have ever tried one yet?" the blond asked curiously.

"That is correct, although we have watched a match or two." Akeno agreed.

Ise smiled tiredly, "Hmmmm...The world of devils is unexpectedly strange. I used to imagine them being evil and scary, but it looks like my imagination was incorrect. Or maybe I feel like that because I'm still ignorant of the ways of the devils world. Before that there is something that is bothering me..." he looked at his beloved President, "Buchou, what is my role and traits? And what piece am I?"

She was stopped before she could say anything else by a loud crashing footstep. Just as their group crossed over the threshold a certain presence flooded the area. It was all Issei could do not to fall to his knees under the onslaught of such an intense intent to kill.

"Kukuku, I can smell something disgusting. But I can also smell something delicious. Is it sweet? Or is it sour?"

A low eerie voice which sounded like it was coming from below the ground echoed around the abadoned building's interior.

Completely unfazed Rias stepped forward and loudly declared, "Exiled-devil Vaizor. We are here to eliminate you."

"Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwa..."

The abnormal laughter echoes around them.

From the shadows, a grotesque thing slowly stepped out as if savoring Issei's fear.

"I can help!"

"It's alright to sit this one out for now, Naruto."

Waving at her followers, Naruto and Issei were promptly shuffled to the very back of the hall where they were the closest to the exit just in case things went sour.

Though not as sour as the blond's expression.

As the battle began, Naruto found his attention wandering again while the crimson haired princess began explaining all the roles and attributes those roles granted them.

As the battle reached its climax and the Crimson Haired Ruin Princess finished the Exiled Demon off with a gigantic mass of black demonic power that seemed to devour Vaizor's very existence, the invigorated girl spun around, clearly expecting to see pride on her new Pawns' faces.

Issei was clearly filled with admiration; however the blond was nowhere to be seen, "Naruto-san?"

Her voice echoed in the aftermath of the battle.

"What?"

Yelping, she spun around with a jump at the blond's irritated voice, only to see him poking at the dead demon with one toe. She couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn she saw him removing something from the corpse before he hid it away. That of course paled in comparison with the very large pile of broken items that he was carrying on his back.

"Are you LOOTING the place?" she asked incredulously.

The blond shrugged the heavy backpack on properly, where did he even get _that?_ "Why not? It's not like anyone's going to miss them right?"

"Were you even LISTENING to anything I said?"

"Yeah, yeah. Yuuto has some sort of weird sword creation ability that complements the speed boost he gets as a Knight otherwise he'd only be fast with no power to show for it." The blond waved dismissively as he continued to poke around in the abandoned building's dark corners for any goodies he could loot, "Meanwhile, the Rook's power and defensive attributes cover Koneko's natural fragility as she compliments them with her natural grace and speed. Not entirely sure what the Queen and King get, but I assume it's just reserve boosts since both of you are pretty heavily focused on jutsus to begin with while the Pawns don't get squat until they rank up or increase their own base abilities."

"Jutsus?"

"Spells, or whatever you call them here. Oh look, a skull."

She gaped at the blond who began juggling a pair of picked clean skulls around, not entirely sure if she was offended by how he found the skull more interesting than a devil's fight, annoyed by how he had accurately assessed their techniques while he clearly wasn't paying any attention or just plain amused by his childish antics.

Then Naruto had to go and spoil it by gleefully adding; "Now I don't need to find anything to decorate my new home!"

She face palmed, "Put the skulls down, Naruto."

"What!? Bu-But! I **juggle**!"

"Put them down, Naruto." She repeated firmly, "I'll lend you the money to get some nice** ribbons**."

The blond whimpered, "How about those ribs I found? They're like half a ribbon each."

"**No. Bones."**

"Okay…."

"And don't forget to wash your hands.**" **

******End Game******

**Chapter 1 End. **

Alright, I'd appreciate if you guys could tell me how this fared compared to the original. Don't worry, I don't plan on letting the old one go to waste.


	2. Entwining Circumstances

**End Game: Ver R Chapter 2**

**Entwining Circumstances**

**Disclaimer : Disclaimer : I don't own anything. Don't own Highschool Dragons of Dragons or Naruto. I do own the concepts and plots that I introduced into the story. Also, because of the connection between Highschool Dxd and multiple Relions and Myths, I am sorry if I have accidentally written something wrong and offended someone's belief/faith etc. I just did some basic research and filled the holes in by myself so it is only natural if I get something wrong.**

**Sound track List**

Akino Arai – Unknown Vision

Ayumi Hamasaki – Life

Ayumi Hamasaki - Progress

Fate/ZERO OST – Rule the Battlefield

******End Game******

"Naruto," Rias said with a clipped tone as the two of them sat before a lavish looking table, "You should know her as Shitori Souna but her real name is Sona Sitri. She is a high ranking devil and the next heir to the house of Sitri."

The blond swept his bang back so that he could get a better look at the strict looking foreign beauty who staring at them calmly behind her desk and nodded slowly. Glancing around the room, he easily concluded that the girls and boys who were all similarly dressed in crisp, sharp uniforms as they expressionlessly watched the three of them inconspicuously save the brown haired boy of average height beside her who was giving him a rather suspicious look, were also more than likely fellow Devils, before he nodded, "Souna-san."

"Gremory-san. Uzumaki-san." She acknowledged with a regal bow of her own, "This is an unusual meeting, what can I do for you today?"

"To save time," Rias began with her usual bluntness, "I need to know how Nii-san is connected with Naruto-san. Why was he given a scholarship?"

"If you're asking if he knew about Devils before this, you can rest assured that he had no idea." The dark haired girl commented, "Who the scholarship chooses is purely based on Gremory-sama's own whims."

"Considering the fact that I'm sitting right beside you, you do realize you could have just asked me right?" The blond remarked dryly, "There wasn't any need to stuff me into a stiff suit and drag me here for a meeting with our_ celebrated_ Student Council President."

"Would you have told me anything?"

"If we were alone? Maybe. In front of her?" He gave the student council president a significant look, "Highly unlikely"

The boy narrowed his eyes as he puffed up his chest, "Be careful how you go about talking about Sitri-sama! You're just a Gearless mongrel!"

Sharp blue eyes stared at the boy.

Before they widened comically and Naruto theatrically pointed out the window, "Oh my God! Someone is stealing Kaichou-sama's underwear!"

"**WHAT?! WHERE!?"**

Naruto quite calmly leaned back into his chair as the brown haired boy raced to the window and crashed through it with a valiant roar. Only to realize that they were on the third floor and he didn't exactly know how to fly yet.

They heard the sound of him crashing to the ground, and a distant moan.

"You might want to send someone to get him to the infirmary," the blond noted with a wry smirk, "He's probably broken a leg or two."

"Was that really necessary, Uzumaki-san?" The StuCo president asked as she rubbed her temples, mentally making a reminder to erase the memory of Saji's little suicide attempt from anybody who had accidentally witnessed it as well as punish the boy for being so reckless.

Naruto shrugged indifferently, "He was annoying me."

"How did you even get him to do that?" Rias asked curiously.

"Perverts and idiots are usually the two easiest kinds of people to manipulate," the blond commented wryly, "All I had to do was find the source of his motivation and the way he puffed up like a peacock for her benefit was as good a sign as any."

**Play Akino Arai – Unknown Vision**

Rias sighed and directed her next question at Sitri with a slightly complaining tone, "You see my problem? He claims that he has never known about Devils before, but he practically hit the ground running like he was born as one even if he refuses to do anything about it."

"A little." She agreed with a small smile. It wasn't often that she saw someone her age so in tune with human nature, to the point where he could send a reckless boy flying out the window with a single sentence.

"It's not that I'm going with the flow," Naruto pointed out with an honest confusion about why they were making such a big fuss about it, "It's that I simply don't care." He spoke with some exaggerated jabs of his hand, "So I found out that Devils, Fallen Angels and Angels exist. So **what**? Your fights and problems have nothing to do with me, or at least, I see no incentive to do anything about it just because someone caught me off guard with a strange attack that I wasn't expecting at all. I'll just do the bare minimum and spend the rest worrying about the interests of one person. Namely myself."

"Your life is usually incentive enough."

"That would certainly save time." He shrugged again before adding so quietly that Rias almost didn't hear him, "Assuming I have anything to live for that is."

"You mentioned you only cared about your own interests, what would that be? Women? Gold? Wine?" an intrigued Sitri provided some examples.

"Do I really look like the type?" Naruto asked with a chuckle.

"Then it still doesn't make sense." His crimson haired Princess noted with furrowed brows, "You make sound as if you have no desire other than to live alone until you die. You're a Devil. You HAVE to have desires."

No matter what she did, she couldn't understand how he saw the world. That lost gaze of his as he watched the world pass him by without any motivation to drive him.

It was so… pitiful.

"Maybe something more…. meaningful? Like knowledge?"

"With the kind of grades he gets?" Rias said dryly.

Sitri flipped through a log book on her desk with a frown, "Uzumaki…." She muttered under her breath until she reached the correct section when her eyebrows rose, "Why don't I have a record about your middle school? Didn't you go to one?"

"Not really," Naruto admitted, "Where I came from, they only cared if I could read and count to a hundred. After that, I joined the sort-of-family business."

"No wonder your grades are so abysmal. A huge chunk of your elementary school and middle school education is basically missing. Where are your fam-" Rias stopped midsentence as she saw something she had never seen before.

The dark, stony look on Naruto's whiskered face told her that it would **not** be a good idea to ask about his family, so she abruptly changed the topic, "I mean, **what **was the family business?"

"Ass kicking."

"Oh…." Rias said rather lamely, "Still doesn't explain why Nii-san took an interest in you though."

"Really? I thought it explained a lot." Naruto noted bleakly.

"Enlighten me?"

"You mentioned before that Devils look for talented humans to resurrect as soldiers."

"Pieces," Rias corrected him.

"Whatever. Point is, this is basically his family's territory and he wants mercenaries." Naruto paused and glanced at the two curious girls, "What better way to do that than take control of an institution that nearly every human in the area has to experience as a way to monitor the masses for potential and give scholarships to the ones who stand out as a way to establish a connection before you actually need them?"

"Your grades are pretty horrible though…."

"I said potential. Grades don't always translate to potential." He gave them a strange look, "Trust me, I know. Business was VERY good back home."

The two of them shared an uncomfortable look before Rias finally spoke, "That was… disturbingly cunning and calculative."

Naruto had no Sacred Gears, no special powers nor any particular abilities outside of a slightly larger than average magic pool, which was actually rather strange considering he had even less than Issei on the day of his rebirth, but now that the reason for his abysmal grades had been cleared up, it was beginning to look like her brother had noticed Uzumaki Naruto for his strange mental agility. It certainly seemed like something the Demon Lord would do.

The blond buffed his nails with a smug look his **King** continued to stare at him, "Thank you. I do try when I can be bothered."

"Rias? Can I persuade you to lend him to me some time in the future? I'll even trade you."

"Over my dead body." She promptly replied.

As the two of them left the room, Rias could hear Sitri asking someone to make her an appointment with her father so they could establish a scholarship.

"What will you do now?"

The blond shrugged, "Relax in the clubroom? I got the day off and nothing to do."

"I'll come with you then. I have some things to do there."

While slouching blond in front of her continued to walk at a slow shuffle with his eyes fixed on the sky, she found herself wondering again about how he looked at the world.

As the door opened to the clubroom, they found it was empty save for a small white haired girl with golden eyes. The girl who was munching on something sweet again stared at them emotionlessly before nodding, "Gremory-sempai. Uzumaki-sempai."

"Uzumaki is fine, the honorifics get a little grating after a while and I'm can't be bothered to keep doing it myself so you might as well drop it too." Naruto greeted her with a lazy wave as he pushed open the door, "Do either of you want tea?"

Rias shot him an amused look, "You can make tea?"

Shrugging, the blond made his way to the cupboard where Akeno usually kept the tea leaves. Deftly mixing it into a kettle before placing on top of a stove, he poured them both two cups of boiling hot tea within minutes.

Carefully but elegantly, she took a sip from her cup before her eyebrows shot up, "This tastes exactly like Akeno's tea! I thought wouldn't teach you?"

"She didn't. What she DID do however, was mix it in front of me." The blond replied dryly as he plucked Koneko's cup from her hands, causing her to wrinkle her brows at him, "After enough times, even someone as stupid as me can do it too if I watch carefully. I'm still saving up to get my own tea leaves though; tap water gets boring after a while."

Rias silently watched as the blond seemed to automatically blow on the cup of tea a few times before he handed it back to the small cat-like girl.

Blinking, she sipped on it and a slow but beautiful smile appeared behind her sleepy expression like the sun rising from behind the clouds.

"Thank you." She spoke with a careful, measured pace, "Himejima-sempai always makes it a little too hot for me."

"I know." The blond noted lazily before he kicked back on the sofa with a wide yawn.

Rias hid her own smile behind her cup of tea as the blond seemed to subconsciously pet the small girl's head, causing her to purr quietly.

Maybe he wasn't as unmotivated or as indifferent as he liked to pretend he was.

******End Game******

"Naruto! Koneko! Wake up!" He felt a hand on his shoulders, shaking him awake, "Hurry!"

"Whuh?" Blue eyes opened blearily and the lithe blond automatically stretched on the comfortable sofa while the white haired girl curled up on her lap did the same with a loud purr.

"No time for that you two, hurry up and get ready."

The whitish blur before his eyes slowly solidified into a worried looking Yuuto, "Kiba-san? What's going on?"

"Issei is in trouble. Himejima-sempai is already preparing the magic circle to teleport us there, the only ones who aren't ready are you two."

His blue eyes travelled across the room to where a figure stood at the window, shadowed by the dim light from outside.

It was obvious that the red haired girl was upset, if not already seething.

Helping Koneko get up, he patted down her uniform and straightened it up for her as she rubbed her eyes sleepily before he stood up and fixed his own shirt, "We're ready. Let's go." He mumbled.

He was so out of it that he forgot to be indifferent.

The moment the five of them appeared on the other side of the Gate, the smell of thick blood and excrement hit his nose. Barely giving the corpse nailed to the wall with its insides hanging out a passing glance, the blond wrinkled his brows and carefully folded his handkerchief before he passed it to a stony faced Koneko. Out of all the Devils there, she was the one who looked the most affected by the buckets of blood that seemed to have been splashed against the walls like grotesque paint.

Giving him a discretely thankful look, the small girl clutched the folded handkerchief to her sensitive nose. In front of them, Issei was half sprawled on the floor, sweat ran down his face as he tried to suppress the pain from the two sizzling holes in his thigh while two people that he had never seen before stood on the other side of the room.

"…What a vulgar mouth." Rias began bluntly with a disgusted look at the strange looking boy who couldn't be any older than Kiba, "It's hard to believe that someone like you can be considered a father of the cloth. You're a Stray Exorcist aren't you?"

"Yeah, yeah! I'm vulgar! Sorry about that! That's because I strayed away! I was kicked out!" the thin, lanky man in black priestly robes cackled, "That's why, screw the Vatican! I'm alright as long as I get to cut Devils whenever I feel like it!"

This was the point where Naruto obviously began to lose interest and he was about to wander away when he felt someone's hand clamping on to his wrist.

He looked straight into Akeno's sparking violet eyes, "Buchou told me to make sure you listened properly this time." She was smiling, but her very being existed a cold hostility, though this time, it wasn't aimed at him, but at the strange boy.

"You are the type that is the most hard to deal with. Someone who feels like they are living by cutting Devils…the one who causes the most harm to us."

"Haaaaah!? You know, I don't want to be told off by a Devil? I'm trying to live now just like other people! I'm not in a position where pests like you can talk down to me!"

"Even Devils have rules."

"And why should a Exorcist care about the rules of someone beneath him?"

"Then disappear." Rias breathed coldly before there was a loud explosion. The priest jumped away with a loud whistle as the spot he had been standing on scant seconds ago was swallowed by a dark orb.

"Nice. I like those passionate eyes. Onee-san, you are the best. I can feel your urge of wanting to kill me. Is this love? No. I think it's a killing intent! Superb! This is great! I love the feeling of intending to kill and getting intended to kill!"

"I'm sure we can accommodate you."

At least that was what he said, but even someone as mad as him probably noticed that he was out numbered. With the seething Rias keeping him on his feet with her magic and Kiba's flashing blade, the Exorcist was slowly driven into a corner.

"Oh, oh! The two of you are sure fierce. Is it because you're angry that I shot your comrade?" The priest taunted them, "Whose the one the sticking it in, and whose the one bending? So are all of you guys in that sort of relationship? So hot!"

"Buchou, we have to finish this fast. More Fallen Angels are already coming to this house." Akeno said before Koneko added her own two cents, "I can also hear the sounds of sirens coming here."

"Very well." Her hands slowly rose and she began rapidly throwing balls of demonic power, to the point where Koneko wondered how the house was still standing.

"Ngh!" His fear of dying finally overcame his battle lust as the Exorcist realized that he was seriously outnumbered. Throwing a bottle of clear water at the red cloaked Devil, he cackled once as the water hissed and steamed on Rias' body.

"See you, idiots!" before grabbing Asia violently and jumping towards the window.

In slow motion, they watched as the Exorcist's feet left the ground, dragging a forlorn looking Asia behind him. They sailed through the air and crashed through the window, right after a shadow appeared behind the clear glass.

On the other side of the glass, the shadow turned out to be a head of bright yellow hair that had suddenly stood up triumphantly as he waved his new discovery, "I found two golf clubs!"

Back to the inside of the room, the Exorcist's eyes light up with horror as he realized what was about to happen right before it did.

There was a loud smack as Freed hurtled into the blond and all three of them went down in a tangle of limbs and groans.

Freed's eyes crossed as he fell on his face, clutching his family jewels in terrible pain, "Wh-Why…." He gasped painfully as his bravado deserted him, "Is your head so **hard?!"**

"More like, who the hell jumps out of windows like?! Don't you know you could have seriously hurt me?!" the offended blond retorted.

"He knows that's a Stray Exorcist doesn't he?" Rias asked her secretary with a strange calmness that had replaced her earlier rage. Somehow, people who antagonized Naruto always ended up in a bad place, even if he just seemed to be bumbling around the place.

Akeno's eyes flicked to her side where the blond was supposed to be.

Keyword being supposed.

Letting go of the lamp with an embarrassed expression, she half wondered when the blond had found the time to escape her clutches and go wander off again as she stood rooted to the spot along with everybody else, listening to the surreal conversation with incredulous expressions.

"I… think he does? At least, I'm fairly sure he was still here for the first ten minutes or so…"

They heard Naruto's distinct baritone warble as he continued, "And why are you fondling yourself in public?!" he spluttered with one hand rubbing the lump at the back of his head where it had abruptly stopped Freed mid leap, "Pervert!"

There was a loud thud, then a looong drawn out wheezing gurgle. Issei swore he could hear Freed sobbing into the ground.

"Nooo! Don't kick him in the crotch!"

"Okay."

Then they heard the sound of something metallic cracking.

"Why did you do THAT!? Asia asked shrilly as Freed began blabbering.

"You told me to stop kicking the pervert." The blond replied plainly, "So I did."

"You hit his crotch with a GOLF CLUB!" Asia squealed in a panic, "What if he's permanently injured?!"

"Good point. Let me make sure." There was the sound of something whistling through the air, then another crack.

"**OH GOD, IT'S BENT!"**

"Yeah! You bent my new golf club!"

"**I WASN'T TALKING ABOUT THAT!"**

Everybody there who considered himself a male crossed their legs with a terrified wince.

"No! Stop! Just stop hurting him!"

"Okay."

"**GOOOOOAAAAAAAH HELP ME!"**

There was some more shouting and squealing when Naruto spoke again with a note of satisfaction, "There. Done."

"You monster! You said you would stop hurting him!"

The male blond actually managed to sound curiously innocent and insulted at the same time, "But I **didn't**." Naruto pointed out reasonably, "He obviously enjoyed it."

"That didn't mean you have to… have to…" They could almost hear Asia blushing furiously, "put them up _there_." She said in a tiny whisper.

"Don't worry. It'll come out with some lubricant."

There was a long pause.

"Okay… I lied. A LOT of lubricant.

"Lying is bad!"

"Shouldn't you be more worried about the pervert?"

"Oh… right. He's going to die! What should I do?!"

"Feed him a bottle of cooking oil and wait?"

There was an embarrassed squeak as Asia ran away from the blond's words with burning ears.

"It'll come out just like that, PLOP!" Naruto relentlessly called after the two figures running away into the darkness. Or rather, one running while she helped the other one hobble, "So make sure you're not standing at the wrong end when it does!"

Rias stifled a giggle; the Uzumaki _sounded_ so innocent, as if he was honestly trying to help Asia but didn't quite seem to realize that he was only making things worse. It just made the entire situation even more insane than it already was.

There was some silence before the grumbling blond reappeared in the open doorway.

"I thought you said you found two golf clubs." Rias observed with some amusement.

"I did." Naruto's eyes nonchalantly flicked in the direction of the window, "The weirdo liked them so much I gave it to him. In exchange, he gave me these."

"You mean he dropped it when you nailed him between the legs." Kiba noted with a weak watery smile that matched his ashen face as he shielded his family jewels from the pawn's very presence.

"I didn't nail anybody in the balls." The blond corrected Kiba with a polite smile, "He nailed himself. Everything after that was just me doing my duty is an upstanding citizen to punish a pervert fondling himself in public." Grasping the hilt-like thing he casually waved the Exorcist's sword of light when it appeared with a buzz. His face lit up with earnest curiosity before he gave Rias a pleading look, "Can I keep this? I've always wanted a night light."

"Anything else you want to pick up while we're here?" She remarked quite dryly. Clearly, she was getting used to dealing with Akeno's bizarre classmate.

"Uh…. Can I take the co-"

"No you may **not **take the corpse home."

"I meant the…." There was a miffed pause, "couch..."

"Sure you did. Incidentally, do you even have enough space for the couch?"

"I knew I was forgetting something."

******End Game**** **

**Play Ayumi Hamasaki – Life**

Naruto sighed as he leaned back into the sofa that he had claimed for himself at the clubroom.

The room was nearly empty, with only himself and Rias still there. Everyone had already left for the night, or at least he figured they did after a rather uncomfortable showdown between Rias and Issei.

"Was I too harsh on him?" Rias said quietly, as if she was asking the air itself.

"For denying him the chance to save a girl he might have feelings for?" Naruto pretended to ignore her slight flinch, "I don't know."

"Why not? You're smart aren't you?

"Come over here."

"What?"

"Just come."

With a reluctant look, she sank into the couch beside him, her weariness was well hidden. Silently, Naruto reached out to fold back her left sleeve, revealing a patch of burned skin, "How interesting… what was in that bottle? Acid?"

Rias ignored the mutter and tried to pull back her arm but his grip held fast, "It was holy water. It's harmful to all demons, but nothing to someone like me. Something like that won't stay for long." She said with her usual dismissive elegance.

"Probably." Naruto replied conversationally and then completely ignored everything she had said as he ran one finger along the rough surface of the dark red burn.

"Logically speaking, you were right to deny him that chance. From what I can see, the peace between the two factions is pretty tenuous; the two sides are practically snapping at each other from behind a very thin line. You don't know if she was playing on Issei's kindness the way his stabby ex girlfriend was or if converting her to our side is worth it. If Issei fights, your honor would require that you to fight and they would respond just as forcefully." Dipping into his pockets, he pulled out a strange canister and flicked the top open. Tapping it carefully, he sprinkled some sort of ground dust onto her skin and Rias blinked as a wonderfully soothing numbness spread over her hand, "That would in turn not only bring in your brother who seems to be quite influential and since I'm fairly sure that not all Devils are as… **caring **as you, everybody else who is just asking for a reason, any reason to start a fight again, that's the whole point of the Chess thingy after all. You didn't have enough information to justify if she is worth risking a full blown war between the Devils and the Fallen Angels."

"And you deduced all this from just watching us?

"You and Sona Sitri to be precise."

She flicked her limp hand with a strange look, "What was that anyway? Normal anesthetic don't work on Devils, so how come yours does?"

"I have thick skin, so my anesthetic, naturally has to be somewhat more potent." Naruto replied with an unconcerned look as he replaced the canister into his pocket, "Just don't ask what's in it. You don't want to know. Trust me."

"You don't have to make it all sound so nice just to assure me you know."

He gave her an amused look, "What makes you think I care enough to worry about your feelings? It really was as simple as it sounded. You simply made a logical prediction with all the knowledge you had."

"Still feels horrible." She swayed in her seat and found herself having a hard time focusing, "I'm not sure if that's just me or what that stuff you sprinkled on me though."

Naruto chuckled and pressed her down so she was lying down on his lap.

"Of course it would. On the other hand, we can look at it from Issei's point of view. He was just resurrected and he hasn't known any of you all for very long nor does he actually **know **any of you. He doesn't know the troubles and worries that plague all of you; there is a faint but fragile emotional bond that probably just got cracked earlier."

Naruto continued to talk about it with the air of someone making small talk as he calmly ran one hand through her long red locks, "Meanwhile, even though you've been in contact with him longer than the blondie, he seems to know her marginally better than he does you and he at least suspects that he has feelings for her, so it all boils down to which one holds more weight with him. Plus, the two sides might have been at each other for so long that they've forgotten how this war even started in the first place. To Issei, a new Devil who has not seen the true extent of the war, who has not lost anything to this fight and has seen the more reasonable side of the Fallen Angels in the form of Asia, the whole thing probably reeks of a pointlessly childish fight."

"In other words, we're ahead of Asia, but only by a bit?" she queried quietly, peering up at the blond's chin.

"Roughly," Naruto agreed with a nod, "the next time he has to make this choice again, the Occult Research Club will more than likely lose to Asia."

She watched him carefully with ruby eyes, "If I asked you how to make him more agreeable to us, what would you do?"

"Theoretically?" The blond thoughtfully scratched at the light stubble on his chin, "Change the status quo. Assassinate Asia Argento and let him believe that the Fallen Angels did it."

The blond smiled cynically, "Then he will burn with the same anger all of you Devils seem to have and throw himself into the fight with everything he has."

"That's how you really see us don't you?" Rias observed with narrowed eyes, "Pointlessly fighting each other. That's why you simply don't care about what we do because to you, both sides are equally stupid."

"Pretty much. There are other reasons of course." Naruto admitted indifferently, "I haven't seen many nice Fallen Angels yet, but I don't entirely believe that every single one of them are insane assholes the same way I know not all Devils are nice people."

He shrugged with a faint smile, "Even if there are people who just want to watch the world burn, they are the only ones that should be cut off."

The crimson haired princess sighed tiredly and swayed as the anesthetic seeped through her skin, "Why do you always seem to look at things so differently?"

Before she knew it, she found herself leaning on the blond as her vision clouded over.

Above her, the blond snorted as the girl finally fell asleep.

"Everybody grew up differently. All the different circumstances shaped our experience with the world, all those bitter sweet memories that gave us different perspectives. All these differing opinions will come together and blaze, they will roar with hate, spark with grudges and snarl with fear until everything inevitably turns to ash. However, something completely new, made from the mixed remains of the ones before it will rise from the ground, from all the sacrifices that have been made."

Naruto drew a deep breath.

"It's called Life."

******End Game******

**Play Ayumi Hamasaki - Progress **

When she woke up the next morning, she found herself in her private chambers, carefully wrapped up in a blanket, with absolutely no sign that the blond had been in there. The crimson haired Ruin princess had almost dismissed the entire night as a strange dream but the familiar bamboo canister sitting on her dress table said something else entirely.

That and the fact that the enigmatic Uzumaki's prediction came true almost immediately.

The day had barely gone by when Issei had come back. Battered and bleeding, Hyoudo Issei had dragged himself back to the clubroom after Asia had chosen to sacrifice herself for his sake, leaving with Raynare, or Yuuma as he had once known her.

Then he had asked for help. He had gotten on his knees and asked for their help.

Are you really that stupid? You will definitely be killed if you go. You won't be able to come back to life anymore. Do you understand?"

She tried to talk calmly, but her voice clearly wavered. With every word she said, she couldn't help but believe that she was watching the collapse of her Pieces.

"Your actions will affect not only me but also the other members! You are a Devil of the Gremory group! You need to be aware of that!"

"Then let me out of this group. I'll go there as an individual."

"I can't do that! Why don't you understand?"

"I became friends with Asia Argento. Asia is my important friend. I won't abandon my friend!"

The despair on his face when she had slapped him, and denied him the chance to save her. The second time in two days had torn at her heart, especially when he had left without another word.

Issei on the other hand went looking for one person he knew was completely neutral even if he was a Devil.

"Help me."

"No."

"Then…." Issei hesitated as the blond placidly placed a cup of tea before him, "Tell me! Tell me what I should do!"

"I wouldn't know." He replied calmly with a sip of his tea, "I don't have any special attributes. Unlike the way the Rook helps Koneko cover her soft body, unlike how Kiba uses his swords to compliment his speed, I am quite literally a Pawn and a slightly stronger body is all I got out of the deal but you have that lizard arm of yours don't you?"

He wasn't lying either, a slightly stronger body was all he **did** get from the deal. He just neglected to mention his own skills.

"But what can I do?! Even if I go… I'm not strong enough to do anything. I know if I go now, I won't achieve anything other than make more trouble for everybody else," He slammed the table with his right fist, desperately railing against the injustice of it all, "I won't even be able to save one small weak girl."

His head was bowed as his shoulders shook, "One small girl who hasn't had anything to be happy about. Even if it's a small piece, I want to be that happiness…."

Across him, the blond slowly crossed his legs and smiled faintly.

Maybe there was hope for Issei after all. He was impressed, but he didn't let it show.

"Why are you asking me then? It sounds like you already know what you want to do."

"But what do I DO?!"

The blond sighed quite calmly, "You want to know why you're here, Issei?"

The brown haired boy nodded with a confused expression.

"You're here because you want to feel like something you cannot be back where demons and angels are little pictures in books. Where loners and freaks are isolated by society, where you yourself admit you were nothing but trash and scum. Here however, you are accepted by them, both Asia and Buchou. You wanted to feel like a hero… even if it's only for them."

"…."

"So why are you still here?"

It was about a few minutes later when Naruto calmly emptied the rest of his cup of tea. Placing it down, he gently laid one assuring palm on the small hand trembling on his shoulder.

"Will you go anyway?"

"Will you come?"

He wasn't strong, or even powerful, but there was something about the calm confidence he exuded. She was one hundred percent sure that the physically weak boy sitting in that chair could not beat her in a fight, whether magic or physical prowess but….

It wasn't a bravado, or even a swagger.

Not a smidge of overt pretense at bravery.

Not a hint of a brash need to prove himself.

It was a simple self contained expression of self belief, even though she had no idea what foundation he based that self belief on. It was simple, composed truth that showed her that you didn't need to be powerful to be strong and most of all; it allowed her to be stand with a straight back as well.

"Might as well." He mock sighed, "For the record, I'm only coming since I was getting curious about them anyway."

Getting up, he led the girl to where Akeno was waiting with a conflicted expression and a glowing sigil laid on the ground beneath her.

******End Game******

"Hey it's the doughnut pervert." Naruto dryly remarked as he stared at the four Fallen Angels twittering in the trees above them.

"**DONNA**SEEK! And I am NOT A PERVERT!"

"Yeah, whatever pervert."

"ARGH!"

Dancing away from the spears of light that splattered the ground, he glanced to the side where the other three Angels were converging around Akeno and Rias. A bubble of energy enveloped them, stopping them from going to his aid as if the Fallen Angels had coordinated this before hand.

Jet black feathers fell around the clearing as the four of them hovered above their prey, cackling, when Donnaseek fell out of the sky to land before the incredibly stoic blond.

**Play Fate/ZERO OST – Rule The Battlefield**

"Does it worry you? You had your Master to protect you the last time, but this time, you're all mine. You were MINE from the star-"

Naruto simply shot his foot mid rant.

"**OWWW!" **

There was a jarring silence as Akeno and Rias stared at his ruthlessness as the blond calmly twirled a familiar looking gun.

"What?"

The crimson haired Devil smiled wickedly as she mumbled to herself, "Definitely a suit."

"Isn't that the exorcist's gun?" Akeno asked curiously.

"Yep." Naruto calmly punctuated his words with another shot to the man's other foot, "I couldn't think of anything else to use this for, so I might as well just go with it."

The blond swayed like a leaf in a wind, almost leaving afterimages behind with how fluidly he moved to side step a spear of light. He regarded the Fallen Angel's hate filled glare with boredom, "That thing might have hit me once, but the only reason it did was simply because I didn't know anybody could use spells in this world. Trust me, that's not going to work a second time."

Donnaseek, ignoring the pain from his feet burst forwards with a flap of his wings.

Laughing lowly, Naruto responded by leaping backwards into the forest, looking like he had just melted into the shadows, leaving nothing but a haunting chuckle behind.

A dark shadow hurtled through the woods, his wings flapping furiously to compensate for his ruined feet when he suddenly stopped and flared his wings. The centrifugal force sent his fist rocketing through the air, punching through a blond's face.

But there was no substance behind it as his attacker fluidly slipped under the fist again and stomped on his foot.

Donnaseek's scream was quickly cut off before the blond flowed from the stomp into a upwards palm drive that slammed his jaw shut. From there, he made a half spin, using the economical locomotion of his own body to slam the back of his elbow into the base of the man's neck.

The Fallen Angel stumbled but he didn't fall. Chuckling grimly, he flapped his wings and furiously fought for stability while the blond watched him curiously.

Looking down, he clenched one fist, "How annoying."

He shot forwards again, one fist reared as if to punch the Fallen Angel. The bald man laughed loudly, brashly and flew forward but instead of meeting fist to fist, the blond abruptly stopped and the fist changed into a claw, slipping around his guard, before it snagged his collar. Using the Fallen Angel's own force against him, Naruto suddenly tilted over backwards with the Angel's greater momentum and slammed him into the ground skull first.

Simple, smooth, locomotion. No powerful spells, no flashy abilities required.

Wrapping one arm under the man's chin, he pulled and twisted violently. He hadn't regained enough strength yet to perform the rest of the maneuver, but he didn't have to as the Fallen Angel instantly went limp.

Letting him fall to the ground with a grunt, Naruto let out a deep breath and cracked his neck. The two of them had fought until they were at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the Fallen Angel's hideout.

His blue eyes narrowed and a slight blue glow filtered through his iris, allowing his vision to sharpen ten times over as he watched part of the castle explode.

Naruto smiled faintly, "How interesting."

******End Game******

"I hope the rest are alright…"

"Of course they are."

Akeno whirled around as the person who had answered their question emerged from the forest, dragging a cursing Fallen Angel behind him, "The three of them are pretty strong and Ise's lizard arm is pretty interesting as well. As long as nothing surprising happens, they should do fine."

******End Game******

"WHERE IS THAT BASTARD?!" a limping exorcist, who hadn't quite recovered enough to walk straight yet, roared as he hobbled towards Koneko, Yuuto and Issei, "I'M GOING TO SHOVE THIS SWORD UP HIS ASS AND SEE IF HE LIKES IT!"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?! GO FIND HIM AND LEAVE US ALONE!"

"IF HE'S NOT HERE THEN I'LL TAKE MY ANGER OUT ON THE THREE OF YOU!"

******End Game******

Naruto sneezed.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nah," He sniffed noisily, "It's getting kinda cold isn't it?"

"Pussies."

Naruto very calmly put another bullet into Donnaseek's shoulder, "Please be quiet, we are having a conversation here." He politely told the howling man as the holy bullet dug into his flesh.

"Shouldn't we ask him why the Fallen Angel's are being so aggressive **before **you put more bullets in him, Naruto?" Rias commented with a pointed look at the blond.

"Sure. Ask away."

"Ask all you want, I'm not saying anything." Donnaseek sneered.

"Even if we have already disposed of your friends?" Rias commented with an arched eyebrow.

He lifted his nose high, "They were weak compared to me. Nothing you do can break me."

"Are you sure you sure about that?" The gun's barrel nudged him between his legs, "Because I'm about to break one of your testicles."

He squeezed his eyes shut when he heard the blond's finger pulling back the trigger, only to slowly open them when nothing happened.

The blond made a great show of giving the ornate looking gun a disapproving stare. Pulling the trigger again, he made a tsk sound when the gun only fizzled uselessly before throwing it away.

"HA! I knew your threats were empty, all of you are too pathetically weak to do anything!"

Naruto looked at him and sighed theatrically, "Ladies, you might want to leave. I usually don't do this since I'm not very good at it and it tends to get messy but it looks like we have no choice."

Slowly he reached behind his back to pull out a hammer.

Donnaseek instantly went ashen.

Rias couldn't keep the cheeky grin of her face as she sent two tiny orbs of dark magic at the man's belt before she and Akeno scampered off. Without the leather length to keep it up, his pants dropped to the floor, revealing a pair of heart print boxers while the blond sent her an appreciative wave before turning back to Donnaseek.

"So…. Left or right?"

******End Game******

"Are you sure this is the place?" Rias asked her secretary curiously.

"Indeed, my familiar followed Naruto-san to this exact location, I'm sure it was just a coincidence that he said he would be here though." Akeno added with a faintly disappointed look.

"I don't think I've ever seen you quite this annoyed with someone before. It's surprisingly amusing to see you so hacked off actually." The crimson haired princess noted.

"Something about him still rubs me the wrong way even if he has been slightly more cooperative. I simply don't trust him to change just like that. Why would he suddenly do it anyway?" Her friend kept on grumbling, "And I don't appreciate him making us walk all the way here either!"

"Relax, we're just going to get Donnaseek's confession. We can leave as soon as we get it, besides don't you want to see where he lives?" Rias soothed her friend as the two of them carefully wound their way through a thin, unused path that cut through the forest behind Kuou Academy when they stepped over a strange line made with chalk.

A slight frisson ran down her back and she couldn't but shiver a little at the strange sensation, "Did you feel that?"

"…. Is something watching us?"

"I don't think so." Rias said slowly, though she continued to keep a wary eye on the dark forest as they kept going deeper and deeper into the forest, "I don't think I've ever seen this part of the woods for some reason…"

It took them a few more minutes to reach the end of the path where it came to an abrupt end, spilling out into a small clearing. The eerily silent forest was suddenly filled with the sounds of wood being chopped, as if someone had lifted a blanket of silence from their ears, something that the two of them immediately noticed. At the edge of the clearing, a familiar blond continued to chop away at a tree as beads of sweat clearly ran down his broad back, clearing a large space around an old fashioned stone shed with an axe.

As the tree fell with a loud crash, the blond set down his axe with a sigh and hefted up a bundle of wood. Without giving any sign of realizing that they were there, the blond carefully tucked the pile of wood away before he calmly and efficiently picked up a kettle that was already boiling and began making some tea.

Setting three cups down on a convenient stump along with a sheaf of papers that contained Donnaseek's list of mistakes, ranging from before he even became a Fallen Angel till yesteryday, the strange blond stared at the spot where the two girls were hidden and kept staring until the two of them finally stumbled out of the shrub with shamefaced looks.

"Have you had dinner?" He asked courteously as the two girls daintily found a stump each to sit around the makeshift table.

"That's alright," Although a little curious, Rias still managed to shrug on an unconcerned air like the noble she was as she looked through the sheaf of papers, "We've already eaten at Issei's place after we dropped Asia there."

"Very well. Do you need anything else before you go?"

Akeno glanced at the shabby but serviceable stone hut, "Do you have a toilet in there?" She asked with a bitter look. They were quite a ways away from the clubroom and she didn't think that she could hold it in anymore.

"It's inside, to your left." Naruto replied quite blandly.

As the two of them began talking about Issei, Akeno silently opened the door of the small hut. Inside was almost pitch black, the only source of dim light came from the Exorcists sword that the blond had hung up on his ceiling.

"To my left, he better have kept the damn thing clean." Akeno muttered under her breath as she stumbled around the dark shed. The inside of the stone hut was littered with all sorts of strange items, from baby rattles, to broken radios, to a leering head, to a whole motorcycle that he was apparently tinkering with.

Wait.

Violet eyes slowly travelled backwards from the motorcycle until they landed on the **head.**

It grinned at her.

"Hi."

"**KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" **

Outside, Naruto and Rias both shot upwards at the scream as Akeno hurtled out of the stone hut.

"YOU HAVE A ZOMBIE HEAD IN YOUR HOUSE!"

Naruto blinked and cocked his head, "So?"

Akeno stared at him. Wildly she wondered if she had accidentally mangled up her words or something because there was no way he could be so calm otherwise. She of course, didn't even stop to think that the blond was messing with her.

So she repeated it again, only louder, just in case he was also deaf, **"YOU HAVE A FREAKING ZOMBIE HEAD IN YOUR HOUSE!"**

"You mean you don't?"

"Naruto," Rias chided him with an amused smile at Akeno's terrified expression. She didn't think she had ever seen the composed Himejima look this frightened, "Stop screwing with Akeno, she's hyperventilating."

The Uzumaki gave her a strange look, "I'm being serious here, you guys are Devils but you've never seen a dismembered head still talking?"

Rias blinked, "You mean there's really a zombie's head in there?"

"Well, yeah."

"Are you sure you didn't just pick up a skull while I wasn't looking?" Rias finally said with an exasperated look.

The whiskered blond shrugged, "Come and see for yourself."

The blond began walking back to the little brick shed with Rias and Akeno following behind him at a somewhat more moderate pace. Once inside, they saw him pick up the sock that Akeno had accidentally knocked loose and stuff it in something sitting in an alcove.

When the two of them got close enough to see the thing in the alcove in the dim light, Rias felt all the blood draining from her face.

The head grinned and rattled away in its little alcove, its long shaggy black hair was filled with disgusting bits and pieces of rotten leaves and twigs while its mouth was filled with a thick, wooly black sock, Naruto evidently hadn't bothered to keep it clean, but the worst part was its strange eyes, bluish purple orbs with concentric circles spreading out from the pupil that glowed with a strange unearthly light.

"What… **is** that?" Rias whispered while Akeno clung to her back, "Where did you get that THING?"

The head gave her an insulted look.

The blond averted his gaze with a sheepish smile, "I…. found it?"

She gave him a look that made it very clear that his bluff had seen through, "Wh-what does it do?"

"Do? Uh… When he isn't trying to persuade me to destroy the world, he makes dirty jokes. Sometimes, he even gets desperate enough to sing because he's so bored or if I bribe him with some food. But mostly he just makes dirty jokes."

Naruto pulled out the sock.

"FUCK YOU, YOU'RE EVEN **WORSE **THAN HASHIRAMA, YOU CU-"

Naruto tried to stuff the sock back in but the head immediately shut its lips tightly with a hate filled glare at the Uzumaki.

The blond frowned.

Then he jabbed the zombie's strange looking eyes.

It immediately opened its mouth to reflexively curse, "OW FUC-"

Naruto literally stuffed a sock in it before it could finish.

"Tada. Dirty jokes."

"How… is that thing talking without a pair of lungs?" Rias asked as she carefully stayed a few paces away from the head and its leering eyes.

"I honestly have no idea." Naruto admitted, "He used to have a body too, but we were separated on our way here. When I found him again, Madara was already like that. It was funny, so I kept him."

"You NAMED him?!" She spluttered incredulously.

"Not really, he came with one." The blond explained nonchalantly.

It gave him a venomous glare as if this whole situation was his fault. And it technically was. But they didn't need to know that.

Behind Rias, Akeno was beginning to understand why people coming back from the dead was so inconsequential to Naruto. When you had a dismembered, talking head in your house, some things just stopped being surprising.

"Most people keep cats, or dogs, or even crocodiles as pets. What possessed you to bring a **talking head** home?!" the raven haired princess yelled at him with a slightly wild look around the eyes.

"Because he's hilarious." Naruto jabbed its purple eyes again.

The two of them watched wide eyed as the blond boy whose biggest reaction to the existence of Devils was a blank '_So what?'_ began using the baby rattle to poke away at the head with a huge grin.

"That and there's something really cathartic about this. Maybe it's because of how you screwed my life up… heh heh heh…. Sometimes, I like to just chuck stuff at him and listen to him curse. Heh heh heh."

******End Game******

**Chapter 2 End. **

I've always found it a little irritating that the magical girlfriend trope always came in play when the male protagonist is one step short of being a complete waste of space, so I tried to deconstruct it a little.

What happens when the male protagonist in question is not entire useless and the Manic Pixie Girlfriend finds herself using him as a pillar instead?


	3. Beyond Duty

**End Game: Ver R Chapter 3**

**Beyond Duty**

**Disclaimer : Disclaimer : I don't own anything. Don't own Highschool Dragons of Dragons or Naruto. I do own the concepts and plots that I introduced into the story. Also, because of the connection between Highschool Dxd and multiple Relions and Myths, I am sorry if I have accidentally written something wrong and offended someone's belief/faith etc. I just did some basic research and filled the holes in by myself so it is only natural if I get something wrong.**

I dedicate this chapter to all those; 'I don't like this version because Naruto is so weak!' comments.

But before that, I would like to first sincerely apologize that you don't like my work. Secondly, in the name of public safety, I find myself desperate to warn you away from your bleak future. If you continue to judge every book by whether or not its protagonist can mindlessly lolwut stomp on any obstacle through sheer brute force by the first and second chapter itself, I foresee that you will have a very unfulfilling future. In the end I understand that you are here on this site because you lack any friends in the real world with your level of maturity, but rest assured, I'm sure there's another thirty plus year old out there that likes ponies too.

Kishi out.

P.s.

This chapter marks the end of our marathon updating. Exams are coming up and Kishi is moving out of state for work after this since he graduates. :\ We're not sure how to handle FF after that, but we'll work something out.

Kur0.

**Sound track List**

Ayumi Hamasaki - Voyage

D-51 – Famiglia

Ayumi Hamasaki - Ballad

LM . C – Double Dragon

John Dreamer - Rise

******End Game******

"**Kukukuku…. Finally, the day has come."** Purple concentric eyes widened madly and glowed with a deep, insane power, "**This is the day I get my revenge. No one shall escape my wrath, even if I only have my teeth, I will tear you apart like the limp strings you are! You shall know MY WRATH!" **

One golden eyebrow quirked lazily at the over the top rhetoric, "Those are just instant noodles you know."

He spooned some broth and noodles before feeding it to the overly dramatic head.

Madara slowly chewed and savored the juice before gulping it down.

"Hands up everybody here who HASN'T had anything to eat in days because you're too much an abusive asshole."

At the bottom of his neck, a lump of chewed mess plopped out.

"You don't **have **hands, Madara. Now open up. Ahhh…."

"I would if you weren't such a nosy bastard. Oh, and if you make aeroplane noises, I swear I will kill you."

"How is that any different from all the other swears you've made about my gory, disturbing and inevitable death?" Naruto gave him a vaguely offended look, "Besides, I wasn't the sore loser who decided to blow everything up just because I was losing now was I? Now do you want this or not?" If you're not going to appreciate it, I'll just start feeding you raw earthworms. It's not like there's much difference, all you do is enjoy the taste before it falls out the bottom anyway so I might as well save some money."

"No! If you take my noodles away I'll-" The head coughed at the expectant look Naruto sent him, "I mean… Itadakimasu."

"Good head." The blond's thin smile widened excitedly, "Now in exchange, you get to teach me a new jutsu."

"What for?" Madara snorted and shot him a sneer, a white piece of limp noodle hanging limply from his nose, "It's not like you've got enough chakra to practice anything I can teach you."

"Just tell me the hand signs," Madara began to say something but Naruto cut him off with a calm smirk, "or I'll put you in the men's toilet again."

"No! ANYTHING BUT THAT! Oh God... the way they dangle with all that hair…" His flaking skin turned a little blue as a shiver ran down his imaginary back at the memory, "Urrp…"

"You puke that out right now, and you're not getting anything else for another month."

"Sorry." Madara hurriedly slurped down the broth before Naruto could change his mind.

After the large bowl had been emptied and the head was resting against the rock with a satisfied look on its face, "What kinda jutsu do you want this time?" It asked drowsily.

"A fire one would be nice." He couldn't stop the enthusiastic smile from spreading on his lips, "I still don't have any of those yet."

It took a lot of persuasion, bribery and more than a few threats, but getting the head to teach him something new was one of the few things he still looked forward to with a pure enthusiasm, and Madara had a lot of things to teach, some that he would've bet not even Kakashi knew about. He could feel the turgid flow of chakra stir in him at the thought of training, of strength flowing through his veins once more. Breathing in deeply, he quelled the stirring with an iron will. Even if he couldn't afford to practice it without wasting the precious bit of chakra he managed save away every day, just learning the hand signs were almost like a reminder that the world he had left behind wasn't just a hazy dream.

The disembodied head watched the blond run through the hand signs it had told him several times with an expression of intense concentration, before he finally nodded reluctantly, "Alright, you've sort of got the hand signs down, now you just need proper practical practice molding it. Just don't forget, when you finish the jutsu, make sure you put your arm on your hip and make a cool sneer as your enemies choke and burn to death around you. Wahaha!"

"Like this?"

"More detached. The way you're doing it just makes you look constipated. It has to be cool and filled with disdain."

"You mean like this? **Oi, wait! What the hell are you trying to teach me**?!"

"…. Pfft…. It just doesn't work; your face is too ugly, unlike us Uchiha…. Why are you looking at me like that? And why do I feel like I'm about to lose what's left of my dignity?"

Naruto stuffed a sock into his mouth before leaving him tucked in a toilet bowl at the park while he went to work.

******End Game******

"Naruto-san!"

The bored looking blond who was sitting at the counter with a ladle spinning around his finger so fast that it looked like a windmill looked up with a faintly surprised expression, "Ise."

Hearing his name being called flatly, the brown haired boy grinned with a wave, "I thought it might have been you. I wasn't sure at first but hearing that disdainful voice confirmed it."

The blond who had an apron tied around his waist gave Ise a thin smile, "I'll consider that a compliment as long as you promise to buy something from me."

"We're going to the clubroom now though." Ise pointed out with a gesture to the girl behind him, "Why don't you come with us?"

"I'm working, and you can buy it later, as long as you buy something." The blond replied dryly with a nod at the timid nun, who was hiding behind Ise and unfortunately had a very good memory.

A withered hand patted the blond's shoulder and lightly pushed him out of from behind the counter, "It's alright, Naruto-chan, why don't you go along with your friends? It doesn't look like there's going to be many customers today anyway, so you can go ahead."

Naruto made a face, "If you're sure, Oya-san."

The old man smiled, showing of his toothless gums, "I'll be fine. Why don't you bring the rest back later for dinner?"

"You just want to see that nice girl with the tight skirt don't you?"

"Hehehehehe."

The blond rolled his eyes at the creepy laugh. Shrugging off his apron, Naruto spun the ladle out of his hand in a display of extreme dexterity and snatched it out of mid air before fluidly sliding it back into its case without even missing a beat, "Might as well. She gets huffy if I don't show my face every now and then." The blond muttered under his breath as he exited the shabby looking ramen shop tucked in between two much larger and much newer shops.

Falling in step beside a nervous looking Asia, he gave the golden haired girl with bright green eyes a dry look, "You can relax. I'm not in the habit of biting nuns."

"O-Oh…" She let out a sigh of relief.

"Unless they happen to like it."

"Eep!"

Naruto grinned as she went bright red and scurried behind Ise.

"Well at least the two of you seem to get along. I hear she's staying with you now?"

"….Yeah, I was kinda surprised by it, but if Asia was fine with it, I don't mind either I guess." Ise mumbled under his breath and discretely shot Asia a guilty look. It had only been two nights ago that the two of them had met in the house of a dead man. Their respective factions clashing with each other bitterly. It was almost a miracle when he had met her again out of nowhere, and on an impulse, had asked the soft spoken blonde nun to lunch. The two of them had spent the entire day, pretending to be two normal teenagers before he had go against Buchou AND fight his way through an army of Fallen Angels for her freedom, so he was still a little surprised that the crimson haired Princess had not punished him. Putting Asia in his house was a reward as far as the boy was concerned.

"I don't think we've been formally introduced." The blond noted with a pointed look at the scared nun as he walked alongside them.

"Heh, I forgot that the two of you have never really met." Issei laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head, "Uzumaki-sempai, this is Asia Argento." Waving at the much taller blond on his left, "Asia, this is Uzumaki Naruto-sempai."

Issei desperately thought around for something to say about his senior when he blurted out, "He was part of the Mafia you know, that's how he got those scars on his cheeks, but then he had to run away from assassins after making a mistake and ended up here in Japan."

The taller boy practically skidded to a stop and gaped at his shorter junior, "What the hell have you been **smoking**?!"

"Huh? Bu-But Rias-sempai to… oh no... I wasn't supposed to let you know that she told us."

"What…? What did she say?!"

"Please don't be angry sempai! She just wanted us to understand you a bit more so you could mix in better!"

"….. Let's walk a little faster shall we?" Naruto blandly said with a scary expression, "I suddenly found something I need to do at the clubroom."

"Your sempai… is a very strange person." Asia observed timidly as the blond began walking ahead of them at a fast pace.

"I guess. He's not very interested in getting strong or ranking up," Issei muttered, "but he sort of holds his own in fights with very weird and creative ways."

"You've fought him before?"

"Twice. The first time in a practice match for us to test out our new demonic bodies. Buchou forced him to participate. He wasn't very interested but he joined when she promised to leave him alone for a week if he could beat me."

"What did he do?"

Issei winced, "He just started screaming all of a sudden, then while I was trying to figure out why he was yelling at me, he poked my eyes. When I could finally see again, he poked me another time. I managed to block him the third time but while my hands were busy he just kneed me between the legs."

Forget using his Sacred Gear, he barely had time to wonder how could there be **SO MUCH PAIN. **

"The second time we fought was after I managed to gather some energy. Rias wanted to show Naruto how much stronger I've gotten." Ise almost began crying, "He didn't even waste time trying to poke my eyes out. He just straight up brained me from behind with a **brick **while I was talking to Buchou."

She couldn't help it; the cloud of despair hovering over Issei as he covered his junk from a phantom pain caused her to collapse into giggles.

Issei shot her a sour look, prompting her to clasp her hand over her mouth as she desperately suppressed her giggles. Sighing, Issei couldn't but grin crookedly. It was pretty amusing after all.

As long as you weren't on the receiving end that is.

"Outside of that, he's a pretty okay guy I guess, though he should just let Buchou pamper him the way she wants instead of being so obstinate."

Asia giggled, "You make him sound like a cat. Sly, stubborn and rebellious."

"Just don't mention that in front of him, I don't know how he'll take it."

"He won't hurt you right?" She asked him with concern.

"Nah. I'll be fine…. as long as Buchou doesn't promise to leave him alone for another week if he can beat me again."

The comical look of horror on his face sent her into giggles again.

******End Game**** **

"RIAS! What the heck have you been telling everybody about me?" The blond called out in annoyance as he knocked open the door to the clubroom.

"You don't come here for days and the first thing you do is burst in like that?" The girl sitting at the large ornate desk looked up with a faintly annoyed expression of her own at his sudden intrusion. Naruto gave her a stony look that demanded an explanation, "I only told Akeno about how you came from a town where your family fought every day, so I don't know what you're so upset about."

Koneko who had been nibbling away on another piece of Japanese delicacy gave her a emotionless look, "I heard from Himejima-sempai that he was a foreigner from overseas and that the scars on his face was from his initiation ceremony. That's all."

Kiba closed the book he had been reading on the armchair and stared at the small girl, "Oh… I thought you meant he came from the Italian Mafia. Since he was here without any family or money, I thought he was being chased by somebody from his former group."

The blond stood there for a long silent moment before he face palmed and they all heard a muffled sigh of exasperation, "If this keeps up, I'm going to be a Don of some murderous Group who was betrayed by his right hand man by tomorrow." The blond said sarcastically, "It's not like being considered a delinquent just because I had different colored hair was annoying enough."

At least the three of them had the good grace to look faintly embarrassed.

Rias gently got up and laid one calming hand on its shoulder, "It's alright, Naruto. None of us think any worse of you."

"Rias…."

She gave him a measuring look, "It certainly wouldn't hurt my reputation if it everybody thought that you were the former leader of a famous Mafia group though." There was a glint in her eyes that made him vaguely uncomfortable, "Now we just need to get you a nice **suit** to go with it."

"Not helping." He noted flatly.

"Wasn't trying," Rias countered succinctly, "In fact, since you're here, you might as well join Ise's daily exercise."

"Didn't I already defeat him?"

"That was then, this is now." She gave him a significant look, "You don't want to be left behind now do you?"

Naruto spluttered, "What are you talking about? Didn't I show you that I can handle myself just fine by defeating that Fallen Angel?!

"All I saw was you using a gun to shoot him before you drew him into a forest where he couldn't use his wings effectively. He wasn't much of a threat in that state." Rias pointed out dismissively.

"What?! Bu-"

Her eyes widened and she pouted at him, "For me? Please?"

"Ngh…"

Her lower lip trembled.

"NO! I will not go out and run circles just because you look at me like that!"

******End Game******

**Play Ayumi Hamasaki - Voyage**

"Hehehehe, we have another 19 km to run, Naruto-sempai, if you don't hurry up, you're going to be left behind."

"Shut up, Kiba." The taller blond muttered sourly as the two of them ran at a leisurely pace, "I'm already got suckered into running, so don't expect me to put any more effort into this."

"Ise already passed us by a long time… and he was carrying Buchou to boot." Kiba cheerily taunted him.

"That doesn't really count. She had a stick with a used bra on the other end." Naruto retorted in with a grimace, "As far as Ise was concerned, he would reach Heaven if he could get it."

The slightly shorter boy chuckled, "So it's a problem of motivation then?" He shot the whiskered boy beside him a sly grin, "Or perhaps…. jealousy?"

"Do I **look **like a hamster on a wheel to you?"

"Well… if its motivation you want… I could always take off my boxers for you to use…"

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU BLUSHING LIKE THAT?!" Naruto went ashen as his legs began pumping even faster, "Stay away from me you pervert!"

It wasn't the kind of motivation that Naruto might have been expecting, but it still worked all the same. Kiba laughed to himself as the taller blond suddenly started running properly to get away from the twisted sword user.

Despite that, his eyes were narrowed slightly at the blond's retreating back. They might have been going at a leisurely pace, but 31 kilometers was nothing to laugh at, and the supposedly weak Pawn hadn't even started panting yet, much less sweat. Even he was beginning to have trouble breathing.

A little more than ten minutes later, the two of them finally crossed the ending line back at the clubroom.

"…. Are you alright?" A small white haired girl poked at the lean blond who had hit the ground face first as he panted heavily, "…. Water."

"Huhuh… Koneko-chan, you're so kind. Thanks." Taking the bottle of offered water, Kiba effectively gulped down the entire thing within seconds while the small, taciturn girl nodded at the other blond, "… Magic lessons, with Himejima-senpai."

As Naruto made a face, Kiba offered him the other bottle of water, "You want some before you go to your next lesson?"

Naruto who was calmly sitting under a tree as he rolled a twig between his forefingers, shook his head. His eyes were closed in meditation, "You wouldn't be so thirsty if you had kept your movements down to the minimum."

"Ooh," The platinum blond chuckled as Koneko delicately folded her legs beside Naruto, "I'm seriously starting to wonder if you aren't really from the Mafia. That sounds like something an experienced fighter would say."

One blue eye opened and crinkled with amusement as his yellow bangs covered the other, "I had plenty of good teachers."

"Ahh…." Kiba nodded understandingly at the strange one eyed smile, "Where are your Masters now?"

The eye closed again as Naruto released a deep wistful sigh, "Somewhere very far away."

Standing up, the swordsman seemed to walk away before he suddenly spun around, a sword materializing in his hands. It was halfway drawn when a strong wind blew.

A finger pushed it back into his scabbard before his attack could even start with little to no effort.

"Your killing intent was showing." Naruto commented with a thin smile as his open jacket billowed, "Be calmer. The more tense you are before you make your move; the easier it is for someone to notice."

Pale grey eyes flicked at Koneko who was still sitting under the tree, her usually sleepy expression was replaced by a wide eyed look as her eyes switched between the spot beside her and the Uzumaki who was almost face to face with Kiba, completely nullifying any counter he might have made from that distance.

There was at least twenty meters between it and himself.

His own eyes crinkled happily, "Your Masters were very good indeed. I would have loved to meet them."

"And I'm sure I would have loved to meet yours." Naruto inclined his head with a small nod.

Letting the sword dissipate, Kiba spun around and began to skip away with a happy whistle.

"There is something seriously wrong with that guy." Naruto mumbled with some confusion.

"…He likes you." The slight white haired girl commented.

"I seriously hope not." Naruto dryly commented in return, "Incidentally, can I go home now?"

"…. Magic lessons." Koneko pointed out quietly.

Naruto scratched his chin with a sly look at the small girl, "As long as you don't tell her that I'm gone… I'm fairly sure I can hide from her though…"

"And if you did that, she's going to hunt you down like a rat." A hand slapped the blond up the head chidingly, "She takes her responsibilities very seriously. The only thing that makes her honestly angry is if somebody else doesn't."

"Ahahaha…" Naruto averted his eyes at the shorter red head who had suddenly appeared behind him, "I was just joking…"

The smile she gave him made it very clear that she didn't believe him at all, "And that's why I'm here to escort you to her room so that the relationship between the two of you doesn't get even worse."

"Weren't you training with Ise?" Naruto pointed out with a detached look.

"He went out on another trip with Asia, like you should be doing incidentally." Rias commented with a scowl, "Even if you can strengthen your body through training, there's a limit that you can't surpass if you don't gather up human desires."

The blond laid one hand on her head with a vague smile, "I'll do it later."

Rias sighed knowing there was no point arguing any further. Naruto just wasn't going to do it, "Very well, let's just get you to Akeno. Come on, Koneko-chan."

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Naruto whistled indifferently as he followed the two girls from behind with a slouching gait, the very epitome of a laid back, uncaring Devil.

Their footsteps, and his whistle echoed through the empty corridor. It was already after school so there was no one left in the school, or so they had thought until Naruto's ears perked up at the sound of a little girl's giggling.

"Nee-san!" Somebody familiar called out tiredly, "Can you please stop playing around?"

A small black haired girl, tied into two pig tails that flounced as she appeared at the other end of the corridor and blew a raspberry at someone hidden outside their line of sight. Her lips were smeared with several different flavors of ice cream and she was holding yet another pink one, "I came here just to spend time with you, but you just want to talk about serious things. Souna no baka!"

A familiar looking girl appeared as she turned the same corner. Souna Sitri's posture was regal, but Naruto could see the slight slump of irritation in her shoulders while a hassled looking Saji tried to catch up with her, "Nee-san. Please stop running. I'll play with you, just promise to listen to me after that?"

"Ahh… Serafall-san."

"I asked Father something, but since he was too busy to come himself, he asked Nee-san to come here instead and talk in his place." Sitri explained with a weary look in her eyes.

Naruto cocked his head as Rias greeted the small girl with respect, "Someone I should know?"

"…That is Serafall Leviathan, formerly Sitri." Koneko explained quietly, "…Souna Sitri's older sister but she lost the right to be an heir of Sitri when she accepted the responsibility of being one of the Four Great Satans, taking the title of Leviathan in the process. She's a little carefree, even compared to you, but when she gets serious, she can easily destroy the whole of Japan several times over."

"I just wanted to play a bit, but you were being mean! Bleh!" the small girl ran over to the tallest person there and hid behind his legs.

"Play!?" Souna's eyes widened incredulously, "You were just taking the opportunity to skip out on work again!"

"Lovely. A sisterly quarrel." Naruto commented flatly as he ignored the small girl clinging to the back of his trousers, "And I'm stuck right in the middle. Do I need to duck when the two of you start throwing things at each other?"

"U-uzumaki-san. I didn't notice you were here." Souna muttered with a faint flush at acting out so childishly in front of a near stranger.

"That's right! You tell her!" The small girl chirped from behind him.

"I'm telling BOTH of you to be quiet." The blond stated flatly. His hand seemed to automatically pluck the ice cream out of her hand.

"Hey! That's my-"

"Be. Quiet."

"Who do you think you're telling to be quiet?!"

"**Be. Quiet."**

Rias blinked at the unfamiliar note of steel in his command.

Almost subconsciously, Serafall's mouth shut with an audible click and she stood there with wide eyes as she stared at the strange, much taller blond.

Nodding, Naruto brought out a handkerchief and began to wipe away the smears on her lips. He didn't even seem like he realized what he was doing as he tucked her shirt into her skirt properly.

At the other end of the corridor, Rias just stared at the two of them disbelievingly, "Does he even know exactly **who** he's treating like a child?"

"… He probably wouldn't care even if he **does** know how powerful or influential the Four Great Satans are." Koneko noted.

Somebody tugged on Rias' sleeve, "I want him." Souna whispered with a wild look in her eyes, "**Give him to me**. I'll even trade Saji for him."

"**KAICHOU?!"**

"What?! No!"

"Why?! Why not? You'll get two Dragons and I'll get somebody who can make my sister listen with two words. As far I'm concerned, that's a good deal."

"KAICHOU! Now you're just being mean!"

Both of them ignored Saji's chagrined cries.

Red eyebrows twitched at the desperate look in her friend's eyes, "No." She said resolutely, "You're not getting him even if you hand over your whole House."

Behind them, they heard the blond and the small girl approaching, "Now, there's nothing wrong with having fun, but listen to your sister first. Once you've finished everything, you can play, but don't eat too much ice cream."

Serafall nodded mutely at the lecture, her wide eyed stare still on the blond boy as she held onto his sleeve.

Calmly, Naruto detached her grip on his sleeve, and handed the little girl to Souna, "Here you go Kaichou." He bowed politely, "Have a good day."

As the two sisters left, Serafall's eyes stayed on him the entire time until they rounded a corner; Naruto turned to Rias and tilted his head at the discontented look on her face, "Shall we go? I'm sure Akeno will be disappointed if I'm early after all."

"I'm sure you can go by yourself." Rias snapped, "After all, if the Sitri's want you that badly, you can't be _that _useless."

"Uhmm… okay…?" Naruto scratched his head with a confused look as she stormed away.

"What's wrong with her?"

"…. Dense."

Naruto winced, "You didn't have to be that blunt." He complained to the small girl who had a similar discontented pout on her lips.

******End Game******

Ise let out a relieved sigh as he parked his bicycle outside the old school building, just beside the huge mansion like structure. Behind him, Asia gave the Pawn a small, appreciative smile. The two of them had gone out on her first errand as a Devil and Ise had sacrificed his rest in order to accompany her and make sure that everything would go along smoothly, even though he had been training with the club President right before that. The two of them were about to go and report to Buchou when someone stumbled out of the door. Even though he didn't show any signs of being physically injured, he still looked like he had been beaten within an inch of his life.

"Naruto!" Ise shouted, aghast as Asia hurried to the blond's side, "Uzumaki-sempai!"

Her hands began glowing with a calm green light as her Twilight Hands activated. Laying them on the man's cheeks, the blond let out a content sigh as the color returned to his scarred cheeks, "Ahh… so warm."

"Is he alright?" Ise asked their Bishop worriedly.

The fragile looking blond girl inclined her head with a relieved smile, "He's alright, it's just mental fatigue.

"You shouldn't pamper him like that." A sadistic voice cut through their little gathering. Her black hair that was tied into a long pony tail swished as Akeno-sempai descended the stairs, "He's just overreacting." Giving the prone blond boy another sadistic smirk, the cool beauty poked him with a toe, "Get up Uzumaki and stop being so dramatic, you barely even managed to create a firework."

"At least that's better than me; I couldn't even create the most basic of magic-circles… Hahaha…"

"But you tried, Ise. You gave it a good, honest shot." Akeno calmly pointed out at the sheepish looking boy, "All he did was mope around the room and then act like he ran a thousand kilometers when I finally gave up trying to make him do something."

She finally understood why the blond rubbed her the wrong way, or at least part of it. Unlike Ise who was always so earnest and willing to work hard even though he was untalented that it warmed her heart, Naruto outright refused to do anything even resembling honest effort unless there was something in it for him.

"Maa, maa," Someone said with a s0oothing tone, "It's his first time after all. He will get better in time."

At the bottom of the stairs, yellow eyebrows quirked up at the red head who was descending the stairs with a warm smile and he warily backed away from her.

Rias reached out and patted his cheek affectionately, "Ara, why are you acting like that? I'm not going to bite, Naruto."

The whiskered blond gaped at her, "You're uh…. Not upset anymore?"

"Upset? Me? You must be thinking of someone else," She said with an airy flounce of her long hair, "Incidentally, since it's so rare for all of us to be together, why don't we head out for dinner? As celebration for Asia's first task and Naruto's first training with us?"

If anything, the pleasant smile just confused the poor, naïve Uzumaki even more.

"Ah, in that case, why don't we go to Uzumaki-san's shop?" Asia said with a pleasant smile, "His employer did ask us to come over after all."

Behind her, Naruto was shaking his head furiously.

And uselessly as Rias clapped her hand happily, "That's right! We can all go and visit his store! And that includes you, Akeno." She added blandly.

******End Game******

**Play** **D-51 – Famiglia**

"Hai, 3 Miso Ramen and 3 Kitsunedon coming up." The blond declared as he expertly slid five bowls down the counter, each one arriving exactly in front of a customer. Wiping his hands on his apron, Naruto leaned against his side of the counter with a exasperated smile at the six of them, Rias, Akeno, Yuuto, Koneko, Asia and Issei.

"Hurry up and eat, then leave." The blond said shortly as they all dug in with various pleased expressions.

"Oi, oi, is that how you treat your customers?" The old man puffing on a cigarette behind him smacked Naruto's head.

"They're not paying are they?" the blond grumbled, "This is all coming out of my pay, and it's not like I get a lot. Besides, the shop is empty other than them."

The bent and grey haired man chuckled, "You're lucky I pay you at all with the amount you eat. Six is nothing compared to what you put down in a day."

The blond flushed embarrassedly as the old man spooned out another bowl, "Here, you go ahead and eat with your friends. Don't worry about the shop."

Grunting, the blond circled the counter before sitting beside Issei with his bowl of Miso Ramen.

"A-Ano…" Asia twiddled with her thumbs as she tried to get to know the blond better, "Why don't you find another job instead of this ramen place if you don't get enough pay?"

"I did." He replied indifferently, "I tried to work at a convenience store once. But when my first customer came in, she was shouting at her two kids. The two of them looked so pitiful that I had to do something, so I followed the manual and greeted her, 'Good day and welcome to our store. You have very nice children, are they twins?' She replied, 'Hell no, are you blind or stupid? The brats are 9 and 7, how can they be twins?' The manual said to always be honest, so I told her what I thought, 'I'm not blind or stupid, I just couldn't believe someone was dumb enough to sleep with you twice.'"

He paused with a vaguely confused look, "My supervisor advised me to never try and work in the service industry ever again."

Ise who was between them, sweat dropped, "Yeah… that totally sounds like you."

"Eat your food Ise." The blond told him blithely.

"You're done ALREADY?! I WAS WATCHING YOU THE WHOLE TIME!"

A very clean, and very empty bowl sat in front of Naruto who was relaxing at the counter smirked, twirling a pair of chopsticks in one hand until they looked like miniature fans, "You weren't paying attention then."

On the other side of the counter, Rias and Akeno looked up as the old man approached them. Sliding a small plate of dumplings to them, he grinned at them, "The two of you pretty young ladies are his seniors arentcha? This is on the house then."

Rias nodded politely with a winning smile, "Thank you for your consideration, Ojii-san." She glanced down the table to where Yuuto and Issei were teasing the blond, "You seem to be much nicer than he makes you out to be."

The gnarled old man snorted, "He probably thinks I'm just being a pervert for asking him to bring you around, but I just wanted to see him mixing with other people for once."

Akeno's lips quirked in a scowl, "Then you should talk to him about being more polite and courteous, the reason he doesn't mix around was probably no one could stand him."

"Ma, ma," the old man patted her shoulder gently, "Maybe it was his fault and maybe it wasn't, but you see it a lot you know. Someone like you excels in school right? Even that brown haired boy knows how to handle it. Your biggest worry is probably grades and your future while he just wants to be a horny pervert or games or pocket money. The students at your school are probably worried about dates or grades, or even jobs, but Naruto-chan doesn't float that way. It's like those war vets you always see at the coffee shop in the corner," The man's rolling Kobe dialect flowed thickly as he talked with a wise smile, "They've spent so much time worrying about how to deal with the battlefield, worrying how they can die any minute now, that when they come back, they just have no idea why everyone else worries about those little, petty problems anymore and they can't relate."

"You've known him for long, Ojii-san?"

"No, no," he waved one gnarled and liver spotted hand with a gummy smile, "Probably a year or so at best. I still remember him then. It was Christmas Eve, and I was about to close the shop early because no one was coming to this old place, at the time I heard glass breaking but so I went behind the back with an old broom just in case. There wasn't anything much to steal here so I was wondering what was happening."

The old man sucked on his cigarette before blowing a cloud of smoke away from them with a relaxed sigh, "That was when I found this lost looking thief running through my pantry. He was dirty and he looked like he hadn't eaten in days. Almost cried when I gave him a bowl of ramen instead, said he didn't want to steal but he had no money and no one wanted to help a foreign looking kid like him. Apparently he didn't have any identification or family and his dialect was so thick I could barely understand him. I decided then to let him just work here, the pay's not much but at least it was something I could do to help the boy. He smiled then, and even though he filled out a little since then, I get the impression he never really recovered."

"But… he always seems so confident though," Rias said unsurely, struggling to reconcile the Naruto the old man was describing to the one that had joined her Pieces, "like he always knows what to do, always aware of everything. He didn't even seem to regret going to school even though no one seems to like him there."

"Aye, that he does, but these old bones of mine could feel it you know, even if he looks alright on the outside, there's this atmosphere around him that just screams that he doesn't know what to do with his life no more. So he decided to go through school and then work at a 9-5 job, but that's not what he** should** be doing. It would kill him; you can tell that he just doesn't belong to what we would consider a normal life. Naruto-chan says he doesn't care about that since there's nothing else to do. He didn't even worry or brood, just up and went at it like nobody's business but today's the first time since then that I've seen him smile like that again."

On the other side of the table, Naruto had a wry, crooked smile on his face as he booted Ise away from him and onto Kiba.

"How would you know?" Akeno suddenly said with a strange glint in her eyes, "He's always so unmotivated, so unwilling to put any effort into this, that it's hard to believe that he's actually taking us seriously."

"He's still here isn't he?"

The old man grinned, "If there's one thing I know about him, it's that you can't make him do something he doesn't want to no matter what you offer him. He'll just sort of meander around, making excuses to stay."

He blew out a cloud of grey smoke again.

"He's interested, make no mistake. But the question here is if you can motivate him enough to go beyond that."

******End Game******

**Play Ayumi Hamasaki - Ballad**

"Thanks for letting me stay for the night, Rias." The blond yawned as he took off his dress shirt in a changing room connected to the bedroom he had been given for the night, "It was getting late and walking back to that shed would have been a real pain in the ass."

"That's alright," The red haired girl called out from outside the changing room, "I needed to talk to you anyway."

'"Hmmm? What about?" Naruto called out lazily as he opened to the door to his room and instantly stopped short, his eyebrows shot up so high they were in danger of disappearing into his long bangs.

Sprawled out on his bed with her red hair fanning out around her like rivers of blood on the white linen, was Rias Gremory. Long creamy legs scythed tantalizingly as a simple white blanket hide her torso.

He liked red.

Rias gave him a sultry look, "Like what you see?"

He REALLY liked red.

"I certainly don't mind the view." The blond commented as his eyes dragged along her slender arms, the top of her shoulders were exposed and the look in her eyes was inviting.

Then his iron will snapped back into place.

"However, I am sleepy, please get out."

"Join me."

"If you won't leave, I will."

"And why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"…I'm late for a meeting."

"With?"

"With… my doctor…."

"Why?" the crimson haired girl sitting on his bunk asked placidly.

"Stress induced diarrhea." Naruto deadpanned, "Now can I go? I need to get away from the source of my stress."

"And what is that?"

"It's sitting on my bed and looking pretty at the moment while my stress levels hit the ceiling."

"Are you really going to run away from a weak, defenseless girl? Even if she's practically throwing herself at you?"

"I'm not sure if she realizes exactly the meaning of what she's throwing at me." Naruto said, the finality in his tone ended any further retorts.

As he turned around to leave, Rias made a mistake. Reaching out for him, she grabbed his shoulder when the blond reacted. Grasping her wrist in a steely grip, he pushed her onto the bed.

His blue eyes were burning as he loomed above her as he whispered, "I'm not like Issei, running away at the last second. If you're offering, make sure you damn well mean it, or you might lose more than you gain."

"And I'm offering you everything. Take my body if you like it." Rias purred, her body writhing under his as his arm pinned hers above her.

"You don't really care about the value of your flesh do you?" Naruto observed with a burning gaze as he towered over the girl, his breath playing on her earlobe seductively, "Otherwise you wouldn't have tried the same thing on me that you did on Issei."

"Not particularly, I've never understood why it's considered attractive." the crimson haired girl admitted huskily, her ruby red eyes were peering deep into his crystal blue ones, "but I might as well use it if I have it."

"And _that _is why you don't have my loyalty."

The large, rough palm that pinned her hands above her suddenly let go with a light chuckle and back away, leaving Rias to feel strangely stranded and empty. Rias went a little wild eyed at the rejection and was about to protest when she felt him sinking into the downy bed beside her, hooking one arm around her waist to pull her back flush to his front.

The silk barrier that had kept them apart earlier was now gone and she could feel his very heartbeat drumming against her back, in time with her own.

This was bad. She didn't know how, but she was losing control of negotiations.

Especially when she failed to suppress another at the way his voice tickled the shell of her ear as he continued to whisper in that same husky tone.

"If you yourself place so little value in your skin, so will everybody else. It doesn't matter to me if your skin is luscious and inviting but receiving that in return for my skills is no different from exchanging a well positioned Pawn for a caged Queen."

Another pleasurable shiver ran down her back she felt him lightly suck on her neck. Even though she didn't mind using her flesh to gain an advantage, she was ashamed to admit that seduction of this kind was quite beyond her current abilities.

"I'm not quite like Issei-san who can be easily persuaded by a mere flash of your skin nor am I as careless as bloodthirsty Vaizor who sacrificed her sanity for the instant burst of power that devouring humans would grant her." The way he lightly danced the fingers of one hand on her toned stomach while the other massaged her back wasn't exactly helping her argument.

Not that she had one anymore.

His fingers were doing a very effective job of rendering her speechless as she arched her back into his caress. Over the last few months, she had learnt how to deal with the Naruto that played around and made fun of everything but the one that was currently seducing her was an altogether different facet of Uzumaki Naruto.

"My loyalty and abilities are somewhat harder to purchase, Rias Gremory. If you want it, you are going to have to make a better offer."

She struggled to keep her voice light, "Like?"

His chuckle was somewhat predatory as it echoed deep in her soul, "**Like your heart**."

"N-No…"

"Not easy is it?" Yellow bangs tickled her back as he laughed softly, "Deciding which is more important to you. So far, you have found it easy to find a compromise since none of us have committed anything worth losing, but if you gave everything to me, you can no longer give the same attention to all your other Pieces, and it tears you up inside because you are so kind doesn't it? Don't worry, watching you struggle will be all the more interesting for me."

At that point Rias realized that, in some ways, the man behind her was more of a Devil than she was.

So when Grayfia appeared at the foot of their bed with a bright flash of power, the Gremory in Naruto's arms had no idea which one she wanted to do more.

Drop to her knees and thank Grayfia for her timeliness or blast her Sister in law out the window with extreme prejudice.

Naruto on the other hand had something else to say.

"Crap, I forgot to pull Madara out of the toilet."

******End Game******

The chopstick spun furiously in his hands as he flicked his wrist. There was a loud bang and Ise swore he felt something wet just splatter on his face.

"GAAAAH! THE MOSQUITO JUST EXPLODED!"

The blond's haggard face glared at the chopstick that was embedded halfway into the wall, "And that, is for disturbing my sleep all night, you bastards." The eye bags under his cloudy blue orbs wobbled as the blond swayed on his feet for a moment.

Issei couldn't help but think that there was something else the blond was more annoyed with though. He had gone back with Buchou for the night after dinner last night, but something seemed to have happened between the both of them. Mostly because both of them had been walking around with thunderclouds following behind them the entire morning. Not to mention they wouldn't look each other in the eye either.

Then he toppled over backwards and began snoring right then and there.

Looking around the room when no one commented on the sleeping Uzumaki, Issei noted the dark mood that seemed to hang around the room wasn't limited to Naruto alone and a confused Asia edged even closer to him for protection. Even Kiba's normally cheerful smile was gone as he stared out the window seriously. On the other side of the room, Rias sat on the couch instead of her usual place at the desk with Akeno beside her, only this time there was another woman; a silver haired of exquisite beauty who stood on her other side with an unconcerned expression, seemingly waiting for something to happen.

That something of course, happened before Issei could ask who she was. With a loud buzz, the air was filled with thick magic. On the ground, a deep orange magic circle, the color of flames flowed across the floor, expanding until it covered the entire room. In the middle of the circle was a proud crest that he was not familiar with, "That's not the Gremory crest is it?"

"…Phoenix." Koneko uttered softly with something approaching scorn, "House of Phoenix."

Sparks and flames seemed to surge from the blaze colored crest as a silhouette of a man appeared in the inferno. More and more silhouettes began to appear until it seemed like there was an army coming into the room before it died down with a flash.

Strong, powerfully lean arms opened widely and the stranger breathed in deeply with a sarcastic, smug smile, "Ah… the smell of the human world that I haven't been to in such a long time." His soft yellow hair fell rakishly along one side of his face, his pressed white shirt was unbuttoned at the top, giving him a handsome, wild presence, "My lovely Rias. I've come to see you, my fiancée."

The silence was stifling as ruby red eyes glared at him from across the room. All around the good looking blond, beautiful girls and women lined up, numbering fifteen, each of them had the confident smirk that seemed to be plastered to the blond man's face.

Instinctively, Issei knew that all of them were the man's pieces, all fifteen of them compared to the five pieces, two Pawns, one Knight, one Bishop and One Queen that Rias had, but he who was worth 8 Pawns because of the terrible dragon within him could only be stronger than them who only had One each right?

But that aside, Issei was more curious about the man himself? And fiancée? Ise's thoughts were roiling in confusion, Buchou had a fiancée?

"I never agreed to be your fiancée."

"Oi, oi, are you sure you can afford to say something like that? Our families have already promised us to each other you know. Without a husband, the House of Gremory will be crushed under a thousand opportunistic Devils and it would be a pity if one of the houses that survived the war disappeared wouldn't it?" The tall man who looked like he was in early twenties said in a cajoling manner.

"I will not accept this, and I will not crush my house either. I will take a husband." Rias declared firmly.

Seeing his confusion, Kiba leaned closer to Issei and began to explain, "This person is Raiser Phoenix-sama. He's a pure-blood High-class Devil, and the third son of the House of Phoenix, the two of them seems to have a marriage contract before this, but it seems to have been made without Buchou's agreement since she doesn't like it."

The blonde, sophisticated looking man who was lounging on the couch opposite of the fiery heir of Gremory house only smirked.

"Ahhh, that's good Rias! You are finally coming around. Let's-"

"I said, I will take a husband. I did not say it would be you." Rias interrupted coldly.

The expression on the blonde man's face immediately twisted unpleasantly as he digested her words. Sharply glaring at her, he made am irritated noise with his tongue, "...You know Rias. I'm also a devil who holds the name of Phoenix behind me. I can't let that name get scratched. I didn't even want to come to a small old building like this in the human world. Actually I don't like the human world. The fire and wind in this world is filthy. For a devil like me who symbolizes fire and wind, I can't stand it!"

His killing intent flared, and with it, bright white flames surged out from him, causing the small room to get unbearable hot and the air to get thick with hostility, "I will take you back to the underworld, even if I have to burn all of your servants."

The atmosphere was intense.

Of course, it was then spoiled entirely as the person sleeping on the floor woke up.

There was a loud yawn, and the conversation stalled as the blond got up, one hand in his shirt as he scratched his tummy. Blearily, he looked at the strange man towering beside him.

He blinked dreamily. Then he screamed.

Raiser was so startled that he didn't see it coming.

"GAAAAH! A WEIRDO CLIMBED INTO MY ROOM!"

Without waiting for an explanation, he poked Raiser's eyes.

"**Gaaaaah!" **

"What are you trying to do to Raiser-sama?!" one of the smaller girls tried to make a move, but the blond stomped on her foot, and she went down with a pained yelp before Naruto jabbed her too.

Rias and her Pieces wisely backed away.

"You know, I'm half convinced that if we give him enough time, Naruto will conquer the world just by poking everybody's eyes out." Kiba noted quietly as the half asleep blond seemed to go on an eye poking rampage.

Issei winced.

The Phoenix rubbed his eyes furiously as he slowly stood up again, "You, what do you think a lowly-" Naruto jabbed his eyes again, "ARRGGGH! MY EYES!"

Thankfully, before the entire thing could escalate beyond help, someone interfered calmly. It was the silver haired woman in the maid uniform, **"Naruto-san!"** She thundered**, "Calm yourself."**

The yellow whirlwind instantly stopped and he blinked blearily at the woman, "Grayfia-san? Why are you in my room?"

"That's because you are NOT in your room." The silver haired beauty explained calmly, though everybody the registered the slightly annoyed tick in her cheek, "Now calm yourself down before you embarrass yourself further."

Turning around, she regarded Rias and Raiser as well, "Ojou-sama, Raiser-sama, please calm down as well. If both of you were to continue, then I won't be quiet about it." She stated lowly, it was a fact, not a promise.

Everybody there noticed that she didn't say a thing about Naruto poking out everybody's eyes, particularly Raiser and his entourage as they glared at the innocently whistling blond through bloodshot eyes.

"I understand..." He bit out angrily, "To be told that by the 'Ultimate Queen', even I would be scared... I definitely wouldn't want to fight the people from Sirzech-sama's group, which is said to be made up of monsters."

Sirzechs? Another confusing person popped up into the conversation and Issei was beginning to realize that he hadn't really known anything about Buchou at all even though she always took care of him.

"Raiser-sama…." One of the girls whined, "You can't really just accept this right?!"

"There, there." He smiled suavely, although the red eyes ruined the look, "It's alright." He grasped her chin and tilted her lips upwards, "Here, let me sooth that for you."

After he said that, Raiser started to tongue kiss one of the girls, moving his palm to caress her visible skin and groping her breasts greedily.

"Ha...Ahhh..."

"Hau..." Beside Issei, Asia's face had gotten so red that it seemed like it would blow any second.

Ignoring the blonde girl dressed in a nun's habit, Raiser separated from the busty mage, leaving lewd threads of saliva connecting their lips. He then started to tongue kiss the other girl, but his eyes were clearly laid on Rias before they moved to Issei, a clear taunting look in them.

Clearly sensing that a fight was about to break out, Grayfia spoke again, "That's enough." With a hard look that warned Raiser to stop taunting Rias and her Pieces, Grayfia continued, "Ojou-sama, if a compromise cannot be reached, I would suggest that we decide this by doing the "Rating game" with Raiser-sama."

The normally unshakeable Rias gaped at her.

Ignoring the penetrating stare from the heir of the Gremory house, the grey haired woman continued calmly the monotone she usually reserved when not with friends, "Just like Ojou-sama already knows, a 'Rating game' can only be played by mature aged devils. But if it's an unofficial match, then even pure-blood devils who haven't reached mature age can participate. But in this case..."

"It usually involves the family and household problem, right?"

Rias interrupted with an angry huff, "In other words Otou-sama and the others chose to make us do the game as a last resort when I was to decline, right? ...What nerve do they have to keep on controlling my life...!"

"Then Ojou-sama, you are saying you would also decline to participate in the game?"

"No. This is a chance." Rias said after a small pause, "Alright then. Let's decide this by the game, Raiser."

Raiser smirked after she threw her challenge at him.

"Hee, you're accepting it? I don't mind. But I'm already a matured devil and I have already participated in the official game. Right now I have won most of the games. Even so, you still want to play, Rias?"

Raiser replied back with a challenging tone. Buchou made a smirk.

"I will. I will make you disappear, Raiser!"

"Fine. If you win, do whatever you like. But if I win, you will marry me immediately."

Both of them glared at each other.

"Understood. I, Grayfia, have confirmed both sides opinion. I will be in charge as the referee of the game between both sides. Will that be acceptable?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

Buchou and Raiser both agreed to Grayfia-san's approval.

"Understood. The main houses involved shall be informed." Grayfia-san bowed her head politely.

******End Game******

Ten days. Issei blew out a tired sigh as he continued to do pushups, trying to get in as much training as he could, even if his muscles tore at him, but he didn't complain. Raiser had condescendingly allowed Buchou ten days to prepare, it wasn't much but it was something. The way he had said it though, made it clear that the offer hadn't been made out of a sense of fair play or pity, Raiser simply wanted to let them struggle, and then despair as they realized that not even ten days, or ten years would be enough for Rias and her Pieces to overcome them.

But that was fine with Issei, he would simply prove them wrong.

A bird's chirp caught his attention and his eyes flicked aside to where Naruto was sitting under a tree in a lotus position, a pair of birds were making a nest in his blond curls while a raccoon yawned on his shoulder.

Unlike him who had many intense trainings with Koneko, Yuuto, Akeno and Rias, Naruto had politely refused their offers and simply sat under the tree outside the mountain resort that belonged to Rias' family.

In fact, he had been there for nine days already and the match was tomorrow. Day and Night, rain or sun, without food or water, the strange whiskered blond hadn't budged an inch through nothing less than inhuman willpower and was about as dead to the world as a stone statue was, even though everybody had been concerned about his health. With two days left to go, Issei wasn't sure how much longer the blond would continue to play around.

**Play LM . C – Double Dragon **

Standing up with a sigh, Issei stretched out the kinks in his muscle with a painful wince. Sighing, he threw the towel over his shoulder and walked back into the house.

As the sun slowly set on the resort, a shadow flitted across the grounds. Her dark clothes were painted a dark crimson by the evening sun. The crimson light washed her pale skin a dusky red color as her fists closed around the blond's lapel.

She shook him angrily causing the birds and the raccoon to start and escape from her wrath but the blond himself did not move, "Why are you still sleeping?"

Her quiet voice slowly grew, "Are you dead? I wanted you dead, but Rias needs you. She won't stop worrying or planning. You can help her right?! So why are you still playing around?!"

Her voice grew louder and louder until she was hoarse from shouting at him, "Move damn you! Smile again, reassure everybody that it'll be fine. I don't even if you smirk at me again, just move!"

Like a massive titan slowly waking up from eons of sleep, the ground around the statue trembled.

Crystal clear blue eyes slowly opened again, but this time they were shot through with crimson streaks.

Then he smirked.

Of course.

******End Game******

"Tell me again, why am I wearing this monkey suit," Naruto asked grumpily plucking at the stiff black suit, "when everybody else is wearing school uniforms?"

Rias grinned at him as she drew her cloak around her tightly, "Mafia. Yes."

"I look more like a butler than a Mafia in this," The blond mumbled before he sighed. Placing one hand on Rias' back, a faint smile touched his lips, "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. I've thought of every loophole that I could, every exception and then some." She worried her lips and gave him a reproachful look, "With the exception of you, all of rest have gotten as much training to strengthen their base abilities in ten days, but they have years of experience and talent on their side."

"And we have desperation on our side." Naruto commented blandly.

She chuckled, "True."

"Then let's go."

"Wait," Tugging him back; she reached up and started straightening his tie, much to the blond's annoyance.

"It's fine right?"

"Wait."

"What is it?"

Her hands flickered until they were looped around his neck, then she pulled his face towards hers.

"Oh."

"Shut up."

"Yes, ma'am."

Outside the door, Yuuto smirked before he knocked on the door, "Are you two ready yet?"

Pushing it open without permission, he smirked at the two of them. Naruto was standing face to the wall on one side of the room while Rias seemed to be busy applying more lipstick at the mirror.

He coughed again with a wide grin, "Shall we grace the crowd with our presence?"

"You're enjoying this too much." Naruto said shortly.

"It passes the time." Yuuto replied graciously, "Besides, if I had to stop Issei and Asia, I might as well do the same for you right? It's only fair."

Refusing to look at each other like innocent kids, the two of them followed Yuuto out to the antechamber where everybody else was waiting for the signal that would begin the match.

Naruto glanced outside the window, instead seeing of the night sky, a solid whiteness seemed to blanket the outside world. Morbidly, Naruto imagined that they were trapped in a replica of the school within a snow globe.

"Everyone please put this transceiver in your ears." Akeno-san said as she gave everyone an earphone type transceiver, "In the battlefield we will be using this to communicate with each other."

As he was putting the receiver thingy into his ear, Naruto felt Issei pulling him aside so that they could speak, "All of us have our targets and duties, but yours is the most important. Power wise, you might be the weakest amongst us, but you've shown that you can handle yourself," A crimson metal gauntlet protected his right hand and he was already prepared for the battle, "So protect Buchou with your life. Promise me."

Naruto blinked and slowly nodded but he refused to say anything. If he did, it would be committing himself to a goal, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to that yet, not when dreams could be wrenched from you so easily.

"Now it's the time for the commencement of the battle. Now this match will continue till dawn in the human's time. Then, Game start."

**[RING]**

The school bell echoed loudly in that empty world, causing all of them to share a look.

"So this is the ring for the start of the match. Like this, our first "Rating Game" started!"

As everybody filtered out of the room, Rias turned to her desk and waved her hand, "The first target that we'll be going for is Raiser's Pawns since they will be a lot of trouble if they can promote into Queens but more important than that is the battlefield. Positioning our Pieces will be the deciding factor in the Game, just like normal chess. Since the old school building is our territory and Raiser's territory is in the new school building Issei, Koneko and Yuuto will be heading for the gym. It's the middle ground and direct route between our two sides, whoever captures it first will have the high ground."

Three dots that had been waiting outside their room immediately began running towards the large building in the center of the map.

"Akeno," Rias said calmly as she watched the large hologram of the school, "Please prepare a large number of traps around the old school building, particularly in choke points, then head over to help Issei and the rest."

The raven haired princess bowed with a beatific smile and her wings unfurled with a large gust. Just before she took off, Naruto saw her smile twist into a sadistic one, and he suddenly started pitying whoever got caught in her traps.

Just as it was beginning to look as if the tides of battle were turning in their favour when Issei, Yuuto, Koneko and Akeno managed to take the gym, a new dot appeared in the skies above the gym before it disappeared.

**[Rias Gremory-sama's "Rook" has Retired.]**

Because Koneko had been the only one in the gym to make sure Raiser's pieces didn't reclaim the gym while the rest went to the sports court, she was the only to have been hurt by the attack massive explosion that even they had seen from the window.

"Is she alright?" Naruto asked worriedly as his head stuck out the window.

"She'll be sore for a while," A pale Rias replied, "But there shouldn't be any lasting damage. In here, even if someone cuts your head off, as long as the invigilators pull you out before the last second, you won't die. Of course, Raiser is a different story, because of his immortality, that rule doesn't apply to him. Even if you blow his body to pieces, he will keep coming back, so we can only win if we can make him voluntarily surrender, that's how he has always won his fights. To him, his Pieces are expendable and only serve to reduce the amount of people he will need to inevitably fight."

"Hmmmm… How interesting."

."What is?" She glanced at him but the blond wasn't around anymore. In fact, the room was empty.

"Fuggaaah!"

Why did he choose to wander off **NOW **of all times?!

******End Game******

Hands in his pocket, a dark silhouette made his way through the forests. Alone, the blond watched from the shadows, keeping away from detection as Issei and Yuuto fought against a Knight, a Bishop and a Rook at the sports court.

Up in the air, he could see faint flashes of Lightning and explosions that marred the sky. Again and again he told himself that there was no reason to join the fight, and so the blond remained hidden in the shadows, calmly watching with a detached air.

**[Rias Gremory-sama's "Queen" retires.]**

Fight. Fight. Fight. His blood screamed.

He looked up, and almost cried out as the panting Bomb Queen that had defeated Akeno attacked Yuuto from behind. The knight had seen it coming, but he was still tired, almost entirely spent after using everything he had, with Issei's help to defeat every other Piece on the battlefield.

**[Rias Gremory-sama's "Knight" retires]**

Turning his eyes, away, he left before his emotions overcame his logic.

Fight. Fight. Fight. His blood was boiling.

He felt pathetic. Holding back just because he didn't want to get involved.

He watched as Rias had to face Raiser alone before Issei arrived. Facing the Bomb Queen and her King, Rias only had Issei and Asia who basically had no offensive capabilities on her side.

Somewhere deep inside, he found himself hoping that Rias would lose, so that he could go free again. And he never hated himself more.

_And then do what? Go back to that pathetic existence? That small shed where you live with that head of an accursed Uchiha while you scratch out a small existence at a ramen store? _

"You do realize what you're asking me to do right?"

_You've never needed a reason before. If someone wasn't supposed be crying is crying in front of you, you moved. If someone was struggling, who only had the power to curse God for being so weak looked at you, you helped. If only because you had the strength he didn't. That was all the reason you needed and now you're standing here, watching people who like you get beaten to death and you do nothing? I thought being a depressing asshole was MY job?_

In front of him, Issei hit the ground. His body battered and blood leaking from his nose as his body failed. Even if he had the will to go on, his body didn't. their eyes met, and Naruto saw an accusing look in them, as well as a pleading one.

**Just take Buchou and run. **

_He doesn't even have the strength to say it anymore. And yet here you are. Watching people who actually cared about you even though you selfishly ignored them. _

_Back then, when I was so filled by hatred at the unfair world, I lashed out against everything just because I want to get away. Do you remember who showed me that not all humans are trash?_

_That not all humans will lie?_

_That no matter how crappy, how selfish the world is, there's always a light somewhere? _

"Give up, Rias." Raiser said pompously, "You have no more Pieces left. Anymore will be a waste of our time."

The red haired girl who was on her knees, cradling Issei's injured body looked up. Her eyes were filled with a defiant fury but she knew the truth in his words.

"Oi, oi." A familiar voice cut through the tense atmosphere, "Who said she doesn't have any Pieces left?"

What the hell am I doing? The blond squatting by Rias asked himself.

"Naruto, NO!" She dived at him, pushing him out of the way as Raiser contemptuously sent a flaming spear at him. The explosion threw them both away like rag dolls. Crashing up against the blond' she held her bleeding side before an explosion engulfed them.

Ruby red eyes opened warily, and she looked up at the blond who was covering her, a deep gash in his forehead as another explosion scoured his back.

Ah fuck it.

"It's alright," He could hear her pleading, begging him to stop forcing himself as she clutched at his torn shirt, "It's alright, you don't have to act like you can take it anymore."

"Rias…."

"Hai?"

"You are my family, and my Mistress, correct?" The blond wheezed through his battered throat and a crooked smile.

"Hai… I will always be your family and your Mistress."

"You'll never leave me correct?"

"That's not the point; I can't bear to see any of you in pain!" She cried hoarsely.

**Thank you. I lived a shallow, colorless existence. But you showed me I… I still had something to live for. **

"Very well." He coughed again, hacking up more blood. His human body was so weak, so pathetic, "May I have your permission… to try one last time, with all I have, Mistress?"

**Play John Dreamer – Rise**

"Alright…. One last time, then we surrender."

"**Understood."**

He staggered upright.

"UWWOOOOOOOOOOOH!" Naruto roared to the heavens as he let go.

Sheer power seemed to bleed from his very existence.

Raiser narrowed his eyes, "What do you think you-Kurk!"

He slowly looked down at the two hands that were buried in his chest, punching through his lungs before bursting out of his back.

He gaped at the arms in his chest, "What? How dare you do this? Who do you think you are you little shit?!"

"Who am I?"

The red and black cloak whipped around his battered suit.

"**I am the Sixth Generation Fire Shadow. I am the Last Jinchuuriki. I am the Pawn of Rias Gremory. I am Uzumaki Naruto!"** He looked Raiser in the eye**, "And my counterattack starts here." **

Naruto ripped him in half right down the middle.

Every single cheer instantly died at the sheer brutality on display before he spun and broke the Bomb Queen's jaw with a well placed roundhouse kick.

All around the field, bright hued screens began popping rapidly up as someone began massacring Raiser's pieces with announcements of their gruesome defeats. Identical clones of the frog eyed blond seemed to flood each screen, methodically, ruthlessly hacking them into pieces. Every one of them moved in tactical formations, mowing them down with incredible precision. Despite the sheer viciousness, it was like watching a coordinated dance as one of them barreled into the stunned Knight like a freight train before the one running right behind him, obscured from the Knight's line of sight, ran them BOTH through with a hail of sharpened rock spears. Then both of them exploded in a ball of fire and force, taking the Knight with them.

On the other side of the field, the three remaining Pieces were doing a fairly good job of defending the music hall desperately when the annoyed clones simply gave up on trying to break their way in.

The explosively suicidal clones decided to just blow the building and everyone in it to kingdom come instead.

Hordes of clones threw themselves at the walls of the gymnasium with gleeful cackles until the entire thing crumbled with a loud groan.

In the center of the battlefield, a clone appeared in front of The Bomb Queen. A sick smile on his face as he breathed out a grey haze that slowly filtered out across the field, clogging up the air as he approached the apprehensive Bomb Queen who was wiping the blood off her chin.

"You were the one that hurt Akeno and Koneko weren't you?"

"Don't come any closer!" She yelled, holding one hand up to her nose as it got harder and harder to breathe due to the thick haze.

But the strange man ignored her.

Throwing up her hand with a condescending smile, a small orb of fire lit up.

That was a mistake of course. The haze around her instantaneously ignited and the Bomb Queen was instantly swallowed up by a gigantic explosion and swathed in an inferno of flames as the clone stood above her ravaged, burning body, a condescending sneer on his lips that would have made Madara proud.

Rias almost absent mindedly watched he slipped a blade of green roiling energy under the Bomb Queen's neck.

"What? Wait! No!" she threw her burnt face up, just in time to see the sneer again.

Then he decapitated Raiser's Queen by stomping on her spine.

She seriously hoped that whoever was meant to make sure that nobody died was doing their job and got them out of the field in time, or Raiser would find himself quite a few Pieces short. The one she had been holding on to the entire time simply stood there, waiting for Raiser to literally pull himself together with a burst of flame.

Raiser threw up his hands and tried to throw deep orange flames at the boy when he simply disappeared.

"_Kaze no Yaiba." _

Raiser screamed as his hands were sliced into pieces by a leaf thin blade of green energy, leaving him with two bleeding stumps.

"What are you doing?! Don't you know who I am?!" Whirling around, the raging Phoenix tried to kick him away but Naruto simply buried his foot in the man's gut.

"I don't have any fucks left to give, Raiser. Phoenix, King, God, whatever."

A blade flashed, cutting off one leg.

Raiser cursed and spat blood at the other blond, "That's because you can't afford any, you tramp!"

Naruto smiled faintly, even in the middle of the battlefield, some people still managed to find a way to annoy him, "No. It's because I gave them all to your mother."

He plunged the blade into the man's face before coolly waiting for him to reform again.

"You know... you're actually pretty damn weak. Not very fast either." The blond whose eyes were marked by a strange orange mascara of some sort commented as a newborn Raiser fell to his knees, trying to desperately suck in air, "You couldn't throw a coordinated punch without splitting your manicured nails if your life depended on it."

A flick of his wrist sent copies of the energy blade, cutting off his arms, one slice at a time much to everyone's horror as noble demon blood was spilt like a river, "Probably too dependent on casting spells with your large reserves. Not much use though when someone keeps chopping your arms off."

Stepping on the back of his knees, the ninja slipped his arm around Raiser's chin and pulled violently. The body underneath him immediately went slack when he wrenched the noble's head off.

Bouncing the still screaming head that didn't know it was dead yet in one hand; Naruto threw his obscene toy away and spat a stream of high pressure water at the airborne head, disintegrating it.

A few seconds later, the same tower of fire appeared again as a clearly ragged Raiser stumbled out of it. His body was clean and uninjured like a newborn babe's, but he was clearly struggling to even keep upright when Naruto decided to give him some _assistance_.

Appearing behind Raiser, he bent the man's head back and sliced his knees off with the blade of wind.

"How interesting," The boy curiously observed the screaming, blubbering man try to crawl away on bleeding stumps, "You may be able to resurrect, but you still feel pain before you die don't you? Your spirit still seems to feel fatigue of some sort even if your body is renewed. What do you think will happen if I fillet you from the bottom up until you die?"

A golden ball of pure energy slowly materialized in his off hand while a screeching star shaped blade spun around the ball and the blond made good on his promise, _"Rasenshuriken."_

As the man was enveloped by a hail of microscopic blades that severed his very nerves, Naruto dispassionately stood there and watched the ragged corpse fall to the ground.

A few stunned seconds passed before a tower of flames lit the field for the fourth time in as many minutes.

The sweating blond man heaved himself upright with a ragged cough, "It-It doesn't matter what trick you use, I can't die, I am a PHOENIX!"

"Just because you won't die when I kill you, doesn't mean you won't die if I **keep** killing you."

"What? That doesn't make ANY sense!"

The blond smiled coldly at the man's horror filled eyes before he gouged them out with some rocks, "It is simply a question of whether your mind breaks from the pain first or if my energy runs out first." he paused and smiled pleasantly.

It was so pleasant it went full circle and sent horrifying shivers down people's backs.

"I'd like to bet on the former. Any takers?"

30 minutes later, a somewhat dirty blond strolled up to his stunned Mistress. Wiping away a smudge of blood on his cheek, he smiled at her faintly, "Are you well, Mistress?"

She couldn't seem to decide if she wanted to stare at him or at the charred, cratered ground behind him with rivers of blood running through the entire field.

"You're not weak!" She finally spluttered.

"No shit." Naruto gently snarked, "What do you think I was trying to tell you all this time? Mommy I need to potty?"

******End Game******

**Chapter 3 End.**


	4. Growing Together

**End Game: Ver R Chapter 4**

**Growing Together**

**Disclaimer : Disclaimer : I don't own anything. Don't own Highschool Dragons of Dragons or Naruto. I do own the concepts and plots that I introduced into the story. Also, because of the connection between Highschool Dxd and multiple Relions and Myths, I am sorry if I have accidentally written something wrong and offended someone's belief/faith etc. I just did some basic research and filled the holes in by myself so it is only natural if I get something wrong.**

The reviews from Unwavering Sky make it sound like one of us died or have never heard of email before… Kishi got a job equals slower updates because he's a grad accountant which equals slaving away for the next 5 years or so before he can stand on his own. Time's the problem here mates, not interest.

**Soundtrack List**

Supercell – Kare

Nami Tamaki - Believe

Utada Hikaru – First Love

******End Game******

Blue eyes gazed around the extremely lavish hall curiously as Naruto, half a step behind a pristine and healed Rias, followed her into the Gremory's main dining hall where his eyes immediately caught the attention of seven people already waiting at the dining table.

At first glance, he immediately pegged the small boy that was hiding behind Grayfia's skirt to be Rias' cousin or relative by his bright crimson hair while the much taller man with the same red hair could only be the brother he had heard so much about but never met while he stood beside an older man with the same crimson hair. Probably their father or uncle.

On the other side dining hall were another three individuals. The last time he had seen Ravel Phoenix, her battered body was being dug up from inside a burning pile of rubble but already the one he was looking at seemed like a completely different person with her impeccably rolled hair and glorious dress. Beside her stood a tall and elegant woman with a blank expression but he could see the curious light in her eyes getting brighter and brighter with each step that brought him a little closer to the small group.

The only word he could think of to describe the man on her left with one arm hooked around hers however, was…** jolly**.

"Ah, the guests of honor are here." He clapped his hands with a cheerful grin as if he had expected Naruto's blank expression, "Let's fill our tummies before all these wonderful food that the Gremory household has labored over get cold and go to waste!"

He blinked again as the jolly old man waved the two of them over instead of the Gremory's and took his seat at the head of the table beside the older Gremory.

Glancing at Rias, he accepted the nod and calmly slid into the chair allocated to him by a well-dressed butler. Absently, he noted that Ravel made very sure to pick the seat furthest away from him.

The man he presumed to be the Head of the House of Phoenix was a little rotund and quite unlike his son, his bright golden hair was cropped short along with a curiously warm smile as he chewed on a strange dish that Naruto didn't recognize. Considering most fathers would be a little more… aggressive if he had broken their sons through repeated, vicious and gory, dismemberment, he had been expecting a snarl to begin with and a fireball for dessert rather than this obviously curious but warm reception as the two men at the head of the table began chatting in a rather lively manner he had not expected from people who radiated such…. Nobility.

"As I was saying, Lord Phoenix, I'm very sorry that this engagement party turned out to be such a mess. I know it's rude but this engagement—."

"You don't have to say anymore, Lord Gremory. My son agreed to this bet, and he will accept it, even if I have to force him to. To us, our words are as important as our tears." The round little man waved off the oldest Gremory's frank apology with a serious smile, "It was a might have been a good idea at the time to ensure the purity of our line, but both of us already have pure Devil grandchildren." He grinned at the little child who was staring at Naruto with undisguised curiosity who felt the gaze, "Maybe it's the greed as Devils that made us crave for it. Or is it because we saw hell in the last war…"

"...No, I also forced my greed onto my child."

"Rias? She'll be fine, she's a strong girl…" He chuckled sadly, "My Raiser on the other hand…."

"Will he be alright?" The crimson haired man instantly asked.

The Head of House of Phoenix snorted with some disgust, "He'll be fine. If anything, the beating he received was perfectly timed. Had I, or anyone above his station done it, he would have simply shrugged his loss off as one against a more powerful opponent, but a beating from the hands of a lowly foot soldier? This isn't something he will forget in a hurry."

While the two men were having their conversation, Naruto, who had already lost all interest in their conversation, discretely stared at the source of the prickling on his neck. Then he pointedly glanced around at the stiff conversation and severe atmosphere around the table and very deliberately made an bored stupid expression with drool leaking out of the side of his lips.

A small giggle escaped the boy's lips. Clapping his hands over one hand, he wildly looked around the table to make sure he hadn't offended anybody.

"Uzumaki-san?" the man beside him whispered, his voice was tinged equal amounts desperation and exasperation as he tried to get the blond to obey, "Were you listening?"

The blond blinked and gave the butler beside him a dry look, "Of course I was, but if you try to tuck that napkin into my pants, I'm going to put something unpleasant in yours."

He ignored the derisive snort coming from Ravel.

"Your unhealthy fascination with my pants aside," He picked up a fork and tapped it with his knuckle, "What are these things made off? I've never seen metal of this kind before… they're really **shiny**. Heh heh heh."

The butler puffed his chest out at his words.

Beside Naruto, Rias frantically shook her head and mouthed at the butler as she tried to silent convey a message to him without alerting her brother or her father. It went without saying that he didn't notice, or if he did, he thought it was normal, "Despite your lack of manners, you have good eyes, young man. Nothing but the best is good enough for our Demon Lord; these utensils and plates are made of some of the most precious Orihalcum mined in the Demon World. Not only do they radiate a beautiful sparkle, they are also nigh unbreakable."

"I see…. You have a lot of these?"

"Of course!" He answered pompously, "Even the plates are made of Orihalcum."

The blond grinned, but before he could say anything, he heard himself being addressed by overly healthy man, "Speaking of my son, Your name is Uzumaki Naruto-san, correct?"

The blond blinked unassumingly, "I am, is there something I can help you with, Phoenix-sama?"

"Could I persuade you to go one on one with Raiser sometime in the future?" He asked with glinting eyes.

"Come back and ask me again when he stops crapping his pants every time he sees my face." The Uzumaki replied dryly.

The nice old man rubbed his hands in a pleased manner, "I'll do just that then. Did you know that stupid son of mine, even after that humiliating defeat, discarded his Bomb Queen simply because she is disfigured?"

Naruto nodded blandly, "I expected that. It's why I used that particular jutsu after all. Though, all in all, she's quite lucky to just be disfigured."

The older man blinked at the blond's clinical tone, "Oh… Why?"

"The _Katon: Hiiro no Urami_ was meant to emit a transparent, odourless haze that would have soaked into every inch her exposed skin and penetrate her lungs. The moment a spark ignited it, she should have roasted from the inside out and even if she managed to avoid **that**, any burn scars from that haze wouldn't have healed so easily since they were so deep." Naruto narrated with a mild expression of distaste.

It was exactly the kind of lose-lose skill he had expected from a fire user as old, as hate filled and as deluded as Madara, but he could not deny its effectiveness, "However, since this was the first time I've used it in a practical battle, a grey fog came out instead and it tipped her off so she was careful not to let it stay too long or breathe too much in. If she had…." Naruto trailed off with a bland smile.

"Well, let's just say some scars would be the least of her problems."

Blinking at the cold satisfaction in his voice, Rias made a mental note to find out what other little spells that Naruto had been hiding from her when they had time.

Ever since the Rating Match had ended and they had annulled her arranged marriage, she had been bundled from one room to another, being healed and dressed up, until here and she hadn't gotten the chance to speak to the tetchy Uzumaki yet.

"I see…." He tsked, "So you're saying that her scars can never be healed?"

"I didn't say that," Naruto admitted reluctantly, "I'm not sure what kind of healing jutsu or spells Devils have so I can't say for certain, but it's definitely not going to be easy."

"As long as she remains one of his Pieces, the system will allow Raiser to donate his own life energy to heal his Pieces, even if he doesn't know any specific healing spells," Rias glanced at him, "It's how I healed you and Ise. Though I expect that a few drops of your healing Tears would have easily solved the problem, Rikel-sama."

"It would," Rikel finally said after a while, "Perhaps I have been too lax in disciplining my children, but after I saw all of you fighting for each other, I wanted my son to learn some humility as well. So I forbade him from using any Tears, forcing him to rely on the system and demonstrate some the same kind of care for his Pieces that you did. Suffice to say, it backfired on me. I'm still trying to get him to revoke that order. Hopefully, another defeat or two from someone his age and skill will probably help set him straight."

The two young Devils shared a look, not knowing what to say to the deflated man when he suddenly looked up again and smiled, "I'm sorry for bringing such a depressing topic to the table, but I just had to know."

He gave the blond a measuring look, "However, when I heard that the Heir to the House of Gremory had picked up the Red Welsh Dragon, I must confess that I had been expecting an exciting battle between Ddraig's wielder and my son. However, a completely one sided massacre coming from a previously unknown and completely unranked Pawn that everyone had overlooked was just as surprising, if not even more. The sheer skill you displayed on the battlefield, enough to overcome even the Phoenix's legendary brute power, was… quite uplifting."

He grinned at the oldest Gremory there, "Your daughter has found herself some very good servants. Looks like the Underworld won't be bored in the future."

******End Game******

**Play Supercell - Kare**

Sirzechs coughed politely as he approached the blond standing by the dining hall window. Glancing out the same window, he realized that the blond had been staring at the leaving Phoenixes, "You would do well to be careful. He might look unassuming, but Rikel-sama is even more powerful than all his sons put together."

"I know." The blond agreed blandly without looking at the Demon Lord, "I could feel it radiating from him. Even if he agreed with the outcome, hearing about the slight against his family's pride could not have been easy, particularly since it was some unknown who had defeated his son. Even the Ddraig's wielder would have been a preferable alternative. However, if he can put up with that annoyance for the benefit of his son, then I can give him my respect."

"You know about the Welsh Dragon?" Sirzechs commented with some surprise.

"God gave me ears for a reason." The blond retorted dryly, "And since I'm some unknown, powerless Pawn, people have a tendency of talking like I'm not present."

Rias who had been standing beside him gave the tall blond a curious look, "You can invoke the Bible's Lord's name without repercussion? Most new Devils suffer a migraine or painful feedback."

The blond returned her curious look with one of dawning realization, "So that's why I kept getting those migraines. I thought it was just me, so I just ignored it."

"Why am I not surprised anymore?" Rias commented with a roll of her eyes.

"You've already been surprised so much today, that you just can't give a damn anymore?" Naruto offered with an amused grin.

"You mean just like you and your talking head?"

"You have to admit it's a pretty useful talent to have." Naruto retorted cheekily, "It annoys people very well, especially a certain black haired Queen we know."

"You better not tease her when you see her, Naruto." Rias chided him sternly, prompting the blond to wink at her, "She's already had a pretty bad day."

"Yes, Mistress." The way he said it made it very clear to Rias that he was teasing her as well.

The crimson haired man in long flowing robes curled his lips into a teasing half grin at the two of them, "Well, at least the two of you are getting along pretty well, but I suspect that might just be because you're in the honeymoon stage."

Naruto stared at him blankly, "Hone-Wait, what?"

Sirzechs regarded his little sister with mild amusement, "I take it you haven't told him about your intention yet?"

"I haven't had the time, but thank you for your timely interference, Nii-sama." Rias remarked frostily as her older brother winced.

Flinging her long hair behind her, her back straightened proudly with her nose up in the air as she faced her family, "Nii-sama, Grayfia-Nee sama, Millikas-kun, please meet Uzumaki Naruto, my new fiancé."

For the first time since she had met him, the Uzumaki didn't look unconcerned.

In fact, he was downright ashen and somewhat speechless as well.

"Excuse me?" He squeaked in a strangled tone, "**Fiancé**?"

"The Rating Match was about my future marriage and you were undeniably the victor. It's only natural that you gain the right to ask for my hand in marriage isn't it?"

His pitch went up one note higher, "But-But, Kiba and Ise did far more than I did though! I just went along with it!"

She gave him a look that dared him to reject her, "Were you going to say no?"

"Well… No, I wasn't…"

"Then what are you hesitating about?"

"A little heads up would have been real nice…" He ran one hand through his shock of blond hair and sigh, "Just give me some time to digest this."

Without waiting for her permission, the blond stalked away silently.

After a long silence, Rias finally spoke up in a small voice, "Did I do something wrong?"

Grayfia glanced at her husband's incredibly amused grin and realized that it was probably better if she dealt with the situation rather than let him do something and make it worse, or funnier.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Grayfia gently patted Rias' shoulder, "You didn't do anything wrong…" She paused, "Well you could have brought it up with him in private before you decided to announce it to your family without his knowledge."

"But…." Rias sounded inordinately unsure and timid, "He kept showing me that he cared about me, why he would do something like that when it contradicts the way he acts around me?"

Grayfia laughed throatily and hugged her sister in law affectionately, "You're so incredibly naïve sometimes even though you don't seem like it."

Feeling the girl in her embrace slowly calm down, she detached Rias from her bosom, "First, let me make it clear that he didn't reject you. Or at least not outright, that means he just needs some time to digest this then he'll come back and tell you what he really feels."

"What for?" Rias said in an injured tone, "We might not have kissed yet, but what's the difference? Getting married for real just formalizes the whole thing, but the substance is the same isn't it? Why waste time muddling about?"

"It's because he is a man, Rias." Grayfia said calmly, "Men tend to panic when you put commitment and sex in the same sentence."

"But I didn't!" Rias protested.

"You didn't, you went straight to marriage. And as far as men are concerned, that's like aiming a Triple S class Spell at their family jewels."

Someone coughed politely before Sirzechs commented with a pointed look, "Last I checked, I was still a man as well."

"Oh you're still here," Grayfia efficiently brushed him off with a casual wave, "Go and do something useful while I clean up your mess again, that's all I ever seem to be doing nowadays. Oh and take some men and try to catch up to Uzumaki-san BEFORE he reaches the hills."

Rias gave her sister in law a beady look, "You expect him to run away screaming."

Grayfia smiled mildly at the way Rias had said it so plainly, "I didn't expect him to run away screaming. I know he will. Your brother did the exact same thing, so did your father come to think about it."

"I'm STILL here!"

"Yes you are, dear." Grayfia said with a tolerant smile, "Hurry up now, I don't want Naruto-san looking like a barbarian for tonight's supper. Tou-san will want to meet him then."

"GAH! WOMEN!"

"Nii-sama?"

"Yes?" Sirzechs looked up with some hope that at least ONE person still respected him as one of the four Great Demon Lords.

"Take Millicas with you. Naruto usually calms down when there's something small and cute in the vicinity."

"…."

The silver haired woman in the maid dress shut the door as her husband stomped out with their son before she led the still stunned Rias to a comfy chair and let the younger girl lean on her shoulder.

"But I just don't get it, why would he look like he didn't even _like _the idea of marrying me when he…." The girl trailed off with an explosive blush.

"When he seduced you that night?" Grayfia finished for her with a knowing smile.

The bright red flush crept down to her neck, "How did you know?"

The older female grinned, "I was watching. I've been wondering if he'll teach Sirzechs how to massage a girl's back." She made some grasping motions and bounced her bountiful chest a little, "These things get a little heavy sometimes."

The crimson blush that had reached her hands, combined with her hair made Rias look like a very nice tomato, "Then why didn't you do anything to stop it earlier?"

"You offered yourself to him didn't you?" She retorted mildly, "That and I was curious why you would come to him rather than the other pervert, but your night time adventures aside, I won't pretend to know Uzumaki-san all that well, but let me take a few guesses. First, he has never shown any interest in doing anything outside of his duties as your servant would require correct?"

"And even then, he only does the bare minimum not to anger me before he goes off and does his own stuff." Rias grunted.

"How would any man react to that? He was just killed then enslaved," the silver haired woman pointed out reasonably, "He seems to be the kind who communicates better with his fists, the very same kind who would rather die than lose his freedom but doesn't go through with it because he has something more important to do while he's alive, some faint hope he's still holding on to. Even your brother had the exact same problems with his Knight, only Okita-san flat out refused to listen to him until your brother defeated him in single combat."

"Okay…" Rias allowed as she slowly digested her sister in law's words, "But he got over that didn't he? He fought for me, he even asked me to stay with him forever…."

The crimson haired girl grimaced indignantly, "**How else was I supposed to take that other than as a proposal**?"

Grayfia easily ignored the girl's outburst, "With a pinch of salt." She said bluntly, "We can already tell that he is an upright person who has a strange amount of battle field experience and knowledge and is far more comfortable on the battlefield than off it. He obviously didn't want to get involved with you in case it conflicted with his own goals, but we also know that he is basically an upright and honest person. This is only my own conjecture but after watching people who care for him fall one by one, even though he didn't return those feelings, grate on his sense of justice?" Grayfia paused to let it sink in, "Given the way he has been acting the entire time, his sudden decision to involve himself in this sounds a lot like he would rather let his goals die rather than compromise his own integrity. Not only that, you've already proven that you don't care about your flesh. With that in mind, he would simply consider a hug or even a kiss with you as nothing more than a greeting rather than a promise of something more."

Rias sighed and buried her face in her hands, "This is all so complicated… shouldn't the guys be the ones trying to understand us instead?"

Grayfia felt her lips quirk with some amusement, "You're just too used to people wanting to cozy up to you for something. You have to remember that Naruto-san isn't some suave, debonair man that wants your pants. He's just some lazy bum who walks around with nothing but boxers on when there's nothing to do, but you can be sure that he won't break his word to you once you have it."

"How... Do you even know something like that?" Rias blurted out incredulously. When the wintry beauty flushed just a little.

"it is my duty to ensure you chose the right man, so I may have done some investigation on your brother's behalf."

"So you were stalking him." Rias immediately said bluntly.

"Investigating."

"Stalking."

"On your brother's orders."

"… Then what do I do now?"

"Swallow your pride," The Silver haired Queen said simply as the girl began pacing around the room, "Withdraw the proposal and let your relationship build on its own then show him that you are ready to give him your heart. That's the only way stupidly honest people like him will accept it," She paused, then added, "As long as you keep reminding him so that he doesn't just forget and try to sweep it under the rug because he doesn't know how to handle a confession that is."

Rias sucked in a deep calming breath, "Alright. I'm ready. Where is he?"

"Waiting for his balls to drop."

Sighing somewhat helplessly, Rias sat down again, "I don't like feeling so indecisive." She noted.

"Welcome to adulthood." Grayfia retorted dryly when the door suddenly burst open, causing Rias to perk up hopefully, "Naruto?"

"That brat! Where is he?!" The butler from dinner looked around the room wildly, "That insane brat! He stole every fork and knife in the HOUSE!"

"How did you know it was him?" Grayfia asked with mild curiosity.

"Who else could it be?! It must be him! He snuck right past all the maids and guards then pilfered our entire set of forks and knives! Nobody else is **that **stupid!"

"…. That's fairly compelling evidence." Rias admitted before rubbing her temples, "…. But it's still your fault. I kept trying to tell you not to tell him how much they were worth, but you wouldn't listen."

Grayfia glanced at the girl beside her and tried to say something helpful, "Well… At least we didn't have to rescue you from your own wedding."

"Yes… we just have to figure out how to convince my groom to make an appearance."

"CAGE HIM!"

"That might work." Grayfia noted blandly.

******End Game******

"So you didn't run away." Sirzechs commented lightly as he approached the blond boy calmly sitting on a bench as he stared up at the sky.

"Here to persuade me to marry your sister?" The boy replied wanly with a brief glance at the crimson haired man. A four legged animal of some kind, it had red scales instead of fur and a draconic face instead of a horse's, padded beside him with a small boy riding on its back.

"Not really." Sirzechs smiled faintly as he sat down next to the blond, "Who she wants to marry is her business; I'm not dumb enough to take a side when it comes to this."

The blond simply grunted and leaned forward, showing some interest in the animal, "What is it?"

"It has a name." The Kirin growled.

"Really?" Naruto's lips turned upwards in a crooked smile, "What is its name then?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out. Hey!" the Kirin recoiled as the blond suddenly reached for it, "What are you… doooing….. gurrh.."

Sirzechs watched with amusement as the Kirin practically melted into Naruto's hands with a loud purr as the blond scratched it under the jaw, he didn't often see somebody who was so… **unbothered** when it came to interacting with him or even a supposedly legendary creature. Millicas giggled as the dignified beast rolled onto its back. Giggling loudly, the small red hared boy threw himself on the Kirin's tummy and began to scratch it along with Naruto.

"Oooh… st-stop!"

"Not so hard, Millicas. You'll hurt him." Naruto calmly told the boy, "Like this, softly curling upwards."

"Okay, nii-chan."

"DOOOOOOHHH…"

The large Kirin which was about as high as Sirzech's waist was tall began thumping the ground with its hind legs, a long tongue lolled out of its ferocious, fang filled mouth. That, combined with the way his eyes were crossed happily, made the Kirin look more like an affectionate house dog rather than a powerful beast of legend.

Grinning to himself, the blond leaned back onto the bench and watched the small boy climb onto the unconscious Kirin's tummy and promptly fall asleep there.

"I envy the way he can fall asleep anywhere he wants." Sirzechs muttered.

"Like in Grayfia's bosom?"

"I thought you weren't a pervert?"

"Not to say I don't appreciate beauty when I see it but I just don't act on it." Naruto said mildly, "All men are perverts after all. The good ones just know when to shut up and listen."

"Give Rias a few years."

"You do realize this is your wife and sister we're talking about right? Why are you not destroying me yet?"

"Did you want me to?"

"No, but it would've probably saved me some time and worry."

Sirzechs snorted, "Don't bother, if I know Fia, she'll have the whole thing sorted out in half an hour or so." He puffed out his chest proudly, "I didn't marry her just because she was good looking you know….. though it does help whenever she gets into one of her moods."

"Totally worth it."

"Amen to that."

The two of them grinned like idiots.

It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between two unrepentant, idiotic perverts when both of them suddenly glanced to the side where a dark haired boy was approaching them, a metallic gauntlet the color of freshly drawn blood engulfed his entire right arm.

His dark hair obscured the intent hidden in his eyes.

"Naruto."

"Ise." The blond greeted him calmly, "You've healed up pretty nicely."

"I heard…." The Red Dragon's wielder frowned. He had fallen unconscious shortly before Naruto had begun to actually fight, so when he woke up, he had entirely been expecting to attend Raiser's wedding. Hearing that Raiser had been defeated was probably just as unsettling, "You weren't weak."

"I never said I was weak. All of you assumed I was." Naruto replied with a flat expression, "If they could be defeated with simple sleight of hand tricks, then there was no reason for me to properly fight was there?"

"Then why didn't you do it properly? Why did you let all of us lose before you even tried?"

"There was no reason to." The blond pointed out with a false calm, "All of you were at best, grudging colleagues. I can understand why you did it, you wanted to be someone bigger than you could be in reality, but I wasn't going to submit myself as a slave to someone unless absolutely necessary."

Issei's brows furrowed even more, "But you promised to protect her… and yet you just stood there and watched us…"

"Again, I never actually said anything." Naruto pointed out with the same clinical detachment he used to show that while he didn't like it, he wasn't about to concede the argument just because they had the moral high ground, "I've learned long ago that not breaking any promises means not making any in the first place unless I actually have the capacity and desire to fulfill it instead of stupidly shooting my mouth off."

Issei hesitated as he tried to understand the blond's words with his own philosophy while Sirzechs watched with an amused grin, if he couldn't watch Rias and Naruto fight it out, this was probably the next best alternative.

There was a loud mechanical click from the gauntlet and his smirk only widened as he felt the power overflowing from Issei, "You know, we all know that this really isn't going anywhere. We all also know that Issei-san here is just looking for a reason to take it out on you, so why don't you two boys just go and fight it out and save us all some time while we're at it?"

Both of them stared at the Demon Lord incredulously before the blond shrugged, "You just want _something _exciting to happen don't you? But I guess I don't hate that way of thinking." Standing up, the blond loosened his muscles with a series of stretches before turning to Issei who was still staring at the two of them, "Where do you want to do this? Here?"

The dark haired boy pursed his lips, "Sirzechs-sama, do you have a place where we can have a match without being stopped halfway?"

The Demon Lords lips curved into a sly grin, "I have just the place."

******End Game******

**Play Nami Tamaki - Believe**

"It's just a simple, one on one match alright." Sirzechs called out. His voice echoed around the empty underground hall that was situated under his mansion. This was where he and his Peerage usually trained and the walls were warded with some of the strongest defensive spells in existence because of their power, but he would gleefully make an allowance for this, "Anything goes, but nothing life endangering."

Naruto ignored the significant look that Sirzechs had sent him, not even he would go as far as that, although that clause automatically limited him to one quarter of his arsenal.

"Are you ready?" The blond who was about a head taller than the average Japanese male murmured with a trace of boredom.

"Rea-."

The words died in his throat mid-sentence as the blond appeared beneath him, his leg already outstretched in a low, sweeping kick.

Fast.

There was no freaking way that the blond was that fast.

Stumbling over backwards with an awkward hop to avoid the sweeping kick, Issei bounced back and put all his strength behind his gauntlet. There was a loud mechanical sounding click as Ddraig registered his will but his punch hit nothing but ground as the blond flowed into a handstand and caught his head between his knees. As the blond twisted like an acrobat doing a cartwheel, Issei felt his stomach go empty for a moment as he was violently thrown across the hall, head first.

On the ground, the blond righted himself and burst forwards, skidding to a halt below the airborne Issei before he could hit the wall and spun. There was a massive crack as his snap kick hit Issei's abdomen, sending the boy rocketing in the opposite direction.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, the blond stood there with a bored expression as he waited for the battered boy to emerge from the crater in the wall.

Issei stumbled out of the dust, his clothes torn and his shoulders sagging in pain, "Why…?" He panted, "If you really were this strong from the start, why didn't you just do something instead of letting us struggle?"

Clenching his fist, he gathered his resolve again with a glance at the emerald mounted on his gauntlet, "OOORYAAA!" The dark haired boy surged forwards but instantly stopped short when he came face to face with the blond.

His brown eyes widened as he saw two fingers racing towards his eyes in a classic eye poke.

There was a loud clang as the blond's fingers hit a deep green visor, repelling his fingers with a crack before a fist buried itself into the Naruto's gut, blowing him across the hall, "You said there was no reason to fight properly if you could beat them with tricks didn't you?" the towering metal clad thing that used to be Issei roared, his height now surpassing even Naruto, "Tricks don't work on me anymore, so BRING IT ON!"

Racing across the hall, the crimson armored boy with a draconic helm lifted his arms high above his head and brought them down like thunder on the downed blond, "UUWWOOOH!"

"Ku!" there was a massive screech of steel on steel as Naruto blocked the hammer strike with… a fork.

Six forks to be exact.

Fitting them between his fingers like claws, the blond blocked the fist with one hand and stabbed the blood colored armor with his other hand but the jab went awry as the tines of his forks simply screeched uselessly against Issei's side.

Blue eyes narrowed at the armor. It was tough enough that he seriously doubted a simple Rasengan would even scratch it. Wedging his feet under the blood colored armor; Naruto surged and kicked Issei off him, sending him flying.

Appearing above the soaring armor clad Issei with a sudden spurt of speed, an orange marking colored his eyes, "I've only got five minutes left on this. Let's make this count shall we?"

There was a massive boom as the axe kick hit Issei right in the neck so hard that the boy's body broke the sound barrier on its way to the wall. Flooding his forks and knives with wind and nature chakra, he sent them whistling through the air right at the armor clad Issei but they just bounced with nothing but small scratches to show for it before he followed it up with an equally useless fireball.

Sirzechs merely watched with a simple smile, completely ignoring the repeated blasts of air as the two fighters exploded around the hall with incredible speed, the force of each blow was enough to send shockwaves radiating out.

"You know what it's like to be misunderstood by the rest of the population as pathetic trash and scum until Rias found you. Despite your overly passionate desire for eroticism, The Occult Research Club still accepted you because they found your bluntness refreshingly different and honest; but can you blame me for not wanting to get involved until I was absolutely sure?"

The armored dragon suddenly stopped moving as if it was thinking, "I'm sorry. I was lying." Crouching, the dragon ignored the forks and knives that slowly scratched away at his armor uselessly and pressed his palms together.

A small orb of power began forming in between his palms, "In the end, I just wanted to see if you were good enough for Rias-Buchou."

The blond's eyes widened as the lizard like armor disappeared, every moment they had been fighting; the boy had been steadily getting stronger until he managed to surprise the shinobi when he felt the presence solidify behind him. Swinging around with a blade of wind, he felt it catch on Issei's armor but all it did was slash a screeching long furrow through the armor plating.

"HAA!"

A massive beam erupted from between his palms, the same move that Issei had used to take care of some of Raiser's Peerage, and collided with Naruto at point blank distance.

The seven feet tall draconic armor heaved and panted in place as the smoke died down until it was enough to see the silhouette still standing there. That was when Issei began to chuckle hopelessly.

In the split second before his attack landed, he had seen the red and black form out of ethereal flames, shielding Naruto from the worst of the attack, "I knew from the start that I just admired girls too much; I loved their bodies, their curves. At the same time, inside me, I got so angry for treating girls like nothing but a sack of meat, to think of Buchou in that same way. Not just her, but Asia-san, Akeno-san, even Koneko-chan. Until I can give her the respect she would deserve as another person… I would never let myself fall in love with her until I could change that way of thinking."

The red cloak with a stiff collar flapped in a nonexistent air as Naruto calmly walked out of the dust with a serious expression. Flicking out one wrist, he plucked at an almost invisible wire hanging around them and Issei yelped as his legs were suddenly pulled out from underneath him.

Naruto began rapidly plucking at the strings around him like a musician as his trap was finally completed, sending vibrations down each individual line that tightened around the thrashing Issei like a noose. The more he struggled, the more the wires attached to the forks and knives buried in the walls only tightened until he was cocooned in midair.

"Because you came at me seriously, the least I can do is to honestly return the favor. _Raiton : Ikazuchi no Kiba." _

Pure blue lightning formed into snarling creatures as they raced along the wires that strung Issei up like a side of ham before their fangs dug into him again and again, mercilessly. Fire hadn't worked, nor had wind. The only thing he could think of had been to see if his armor conducted Lightning.

Each snarling creature to sink into the blood colored armor pushed another scream out of Issei's battered throat until the almost senseless boy felt a certain lightlessness as the wires released him from their embrace.

The heavily armored boy crashed to the ground with resounding clang and he laid there panting heavily. All he could was twitch harmlessly since every single one of his limbs had gone numb.

"…..I wanted to fight you, with all and everything I could give," The boy slurred as his armor faded away, leaving only one scaled arm that he lifted up with a bitter smile, "up to and including my arm, to see if you were good enough."

The blond grunted and wrapped his cloak that was literally made out of solid flames, around him a little tighter, "If you realized that much about yourself already, I'd say you're about half way there."

Issei laughed quietly, "Yeah, but you got there first. And now that I've given everything I've got against you, I have no regrets." Then he slowly lifted one finger to point at the blond, "But don't forget, you've only defeated the me of now. In the future, I will keep getting stronger and come after you to remind you that Buchou is the most valuable thing in the world."

The blond grunted again, "With that kind of sincerity, I can see why the rest care for you so much. It really is different to the rest."

He offered the battered boy at his feet a hand, "Proper friends?"

"Yeah."

******End Game******

**Play Utada Hikaru – First Love**

The sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoed in the spacious dining hall as Rias glared at the two boys with hot tears in her eyes, "What drove the two of you to do something so… so….." The steaming girl fumbled helplessly as she looked for a word strong enough to describe their actions until Grayfia lend a hand.

"Stupid?"

"STUPID!"

Issei who had been hanging off Naruto's shoulder with a grin shed it for a grimace as her insanely loud voice almost seemed to vibrate inside his skull, "We couldn't help it."

Naruto nodded furiously, "Just getting the bad air out."

She touched Issei's scaly dragon arm again with a despairing look in her eyes, "TO THE POINT WHERE ISSEI SACRIFICED AN ARM?!" The two of them winced again, "AND YOU!"

Sirzechs who had been standing behind the two of them with a satisfied grin immediately went white as he felt Rias' gun barrels land squarely on him, "WEREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING HIM SO HE DOESN'T DO SOMETHING EVEN STUPIDER!?"

"In my defense, I was bored and it sounded like a good idea at the time. Besides it's just one arm… I've seen worse."

"You…. You…. FUGAAAAH!" Rias spun around angrily and stormed out of the room before she lost all semblance of control.

Sighing as she rubbed the bridge of her nose again, Grayfia cast a spell on Issei and levitated him off the blond, "You." She said curtly in the blond's general direction, "Go and do something."

"Do what?" Naruto spluttered incredulously.

"Something."

"That's…. not very helpful…" Naruto hedged.

"Is she always this short with people?" Issei muttered questioningly.

"You should see when she's on her peri-KRRACK"

There was a loud cracking sound and the Demon Lord found himself spending the rest of the day as a gigantic icicle where he would at least cause no more trouble other than a big puddle of water.

Naruto paled and backed away from Grayfia's thunderous expression, "Yes. Something. On it." Before he scurried out the same door Rias had taken.

The moment the huge doors closed behind him, Naruto heaved a sigh of relief and scratched the back of his head lazily. Stuffing one hand in his pocket, he sniffed the air and began to follow the familiar scent of the red head's perfume.

Climbing up one stair way after another, the blond was close to giving up until he finally arrived at the highest floor of the Gremory mansion. The entire floor seemed to contain only one door, and Naruto immediately knew that it belonged to Rias.

Brushing his finger against the small wooden plague on it he glanced at the childish crayon scrawl that said 'Riases Rooom!' on it, and pushed the door open. Entering the room without permission, he threw one unconcerned glance around the overly large room that seemed to take up an entire wing for itself.

The room itself was a surprisingly typical girl's room, complete with stuffed dolls, gentle cream wall paper and some bright pictures thrown up here and there but there was a sense of loneliness due to its huge size. Just looking at the bedroom as a whole, Naruto immediately got the sense that Rias had been a pampered child with an overly protective parent slash brother.

Dismissing his thoughts with a grunt, he headed straight for the lump under the blanket and sat down beside it with a grunt.

He opened his mouth once or twice, but nothing came out, and the silence stretched while the girl hiding under the blankets fidgeted.

"Sorry."

The lump moved just a bit and one angry eye the color of seafoam peeped out from underneath the lump.

"About?" She asked in an ignorant, muffled tone as if pretending she didn't know what he was talking about.

Naruto grumbled discontentedly, "I don't know since I don't think what we did was wrong. Would you have preferred the two of us dance around the issue and let the tension rise until it was too late?"

The blanked shifted and Naruto heard a long suffering sigh from the lump before a head of red hair poked itself out from underneath, "I… know. I just wasn't thinking rationally… and I was so worried about the two of you." She gave him an accusing look, "There was any number of ways the two of you could have settled this without an all-out fight though."

"You can blame your brother for that one." The blond replied glibly, feeling no guilt whatsoever at painting a target squarely on the Demon Lord's back.

"I knew it was his idea." Rias murmured with a dark glint in her bluish green eyes.

Sighing again, she crawled out of her blanket and wormed her way under his arm so that it was curled around her shoulders. Leaning into his side, she murmured softly, "I'm sorry too. For putting you on the spot so suddenly."

The blond went bone white again. With all the excitement, he had completely forgotten that he was now…. For lack of a better word, engaged.

"I won't force you to go through this since you're not ready…" Rias cutely mumbled from somewhere around his chest, "I just wanted you to know that… well since we're both pretty awkward people… I don't mind if you prepare yourself first…. And uh… I'll grow with you since it's my duty as your Mistress."

He could live with that.

Gently removing the girl from under his arm, he cupped her cheek with one rough palm, "You sure you don't want Ise?" Naruto replied seriously, "He honestly admires you so much that if I didn't already have an advantage in battle, he would have fun through sheer guts alone."

Rias felt the blond's thumb pad gently rubbing her cheek and instinctively leaned into his hand, "….Maybe if I had spent more time with him, this would have gone differently, but you already have one part of my heart. I love him, I love all of you, but this is a little different. Hotter…"

Naruto smiled crookedly, "As you wish, Mistress."

Then he leaned in and gently brushed his lips against hers.

"We'll grow together."

******End Game******

Two weeks passed without much trouble after that day and although the dynamics of the Occult Research Club had changed significantly, especially with Issei and Naruto, things remained more or less the same.

That being said, Rias wouldn't have had it any other way. Even if Naruto had sort of… defrosted, which was another way of saying that he was at least physically present at the club a little more often, going so far even to go out and grant his first wish, he was still the same slightly crazy, detached nut job while small and cute things automatically gravitated towards him.

Speaking of his first wish, it had been with a special client that Ise introduced to him. Her/his name was Mil-tan, and for some reason, Naruto was never quite the same after spending a night with his client.

She could still see a slightly wild twitch in his eyes every time he laid them on a sailor suit.

He then went on to spend the next day chasing Ise down with a monkey wrench.

Even though she pitied Ise a little since it was probably a little demanding, with classes in the morning, competitions in the afternoon and evening, then Devil duties at night, Rias didn't stop Naruto. Mostly because it was good practice for the Kuou Ball Tournament anyway. It was a simple competition for ball related sports, categorized to class, clubs, and even gender and participation was mandatory.

There was a catch though, no one but the Student Council knew what tournament would be held until the day itself so there was a slight tinge of excitement in the air as everyone got ready anyway they could by practicing any sport related to balls any time they could.

Today however, it was a dodge ball competition for the clubs and the Occult Research Club had been put up against the Men's Basketball club which was naturally filled with athletic, tall, good looking hunks. All of which seemed to contain a burning fury for Ise and Naruto since their attacks were only aimed in that direction.

"Aim for him! Aim for Hyoudou!"

"Kill Uzumaki, Kill, kill, kill!"

"Uoooooo! Screw you guys!" Only Ise was responding though, since Naruto kept away from the thickest part of the court, calmly side stepping any attempts to hit him with a bored expression.

What Rias wasn't aware of however was that the basketball team was unable to aim for anyone other than the two of them.

Rias, as one of the two greatest Onee-samas of Kuou Academy with great looks and greater body was off limits.

Akeno, another one of the beautiful school idols with her Yamato Nadeshiko air was out of the question.

Asia, a rising star in the ranks of Kuou Academy with her charming innocent and beautiful flowing golden locks. Hitting the girl with a ball would be like kicking a puppy.

Koneko-chan, the small, sleepy, innocent looking girl. Anyone who threw a ball in her direction would forever be an enemy to half the school not to it would also like kicking a puppy then throwing gas on it and lighting it on fire.

Kiba, although the Prince of Kuou Academy was the enemy of almost every male in Kuou Academy, the price of damaging his wonderfully crystalline features was a fury induced beating at the hands of every female in the school.

Which basically left Naruto and Ise as fish bait. The two most useless guys in the academy with no redeeming features that were somehow personally invited into the Occult Research Club.

The grudge of every male in Kuou Academy against the two of them were deep indeed, but Rias was not aware of this deep level politicking amongst the student populations and was therefore blissfully ignorant of the reason behind their burning looks.

"Shit! I don't care whether I get hated! You damn handsome!"

Until one of them finally snapped that is, and took a chance to aim at Kiba, who had been spacing out more and more recently.

What are you doing gazing around for!?" Ise who had seen the ball yelled as he dove in front of the dreamy Kiba. Even if he considered Kiba an enemy because he was so popular, the dark haired boy couldn't let Kiba simply take a hit like that just because he wasn't paying attention.

Off to the side, the blond boy who had been casually stepping out of the way and avoiding balls with a supernatural grace that bordered on sheer boredom winced as the large volleyball hit Ise squarely in the nuts with a loud bang.

Ise instantly went down with a wheeze as his eyes crossed.

"Uwooh! Good job! We finally got one of the Useless Duo!"

Naruto was firmly convinced that he would gain nothing from trying to help avenge Ise and was content on staying at the very sides of the court, away from the trouble when a loud voice rang out, "Why do you keep insulting them?!"

Asia furrowed her brows as she stood there with an uncharacteristic look of anger on her round face. Naruto simply figured that she had finally gotten tired, or at least finally understood some of the resentment they had for the Useless Duo as the two of them were now called.

The captain of the other team sneered, "What in the world are you talking about? Just move out of the way, Asia-chan, our quarrel is only with that last loser left."

Rias bristled, "I don't care what you say about me, but they are NOT losers."

The basketball team shared a dumbfounded look at the very existence of someone who would defend the Useless Duo of Kuou Academy before all of them began laughing right then and there, "Not losers!?"

"They suck at studying, their bodies are too weak for sports, all they're only good for is making more and problems for others!" One of them snorted derisively.

"Trash of the society, even they know how well this name fits them. Their very presence is a shame, a stain on our academy."

"Oi, oi, that's rude to real trash you know!"

All of them began laughing again.

Asia began shaking at the continuous jeers and Naruto could see tears began to glisten in her eyes, "HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH MEAN THINGS?"

Every one stared at the beautiful blond girl. No one had ever expected to hear her raise her voice, she seemed to innocent for it, but she kept on going, "It's true that the two of them might not be good at academics, or sports! It's true that they fail completely as students, but they are both nice people. They are gentle and honest with a true idiot like me, even though I haven't been able to properly join this club, I can still feel how much they care for me! People like you who don't even know them don't have the right to call them LOSERS!"

Rias gently embraced the shaking girl who was ignoring her streaming tears as she glared at the basketball team, "it's okay, Asia-chan, ignore them."

"That's right; just go away if you don't want to play properly!" The opponent's team sneered out loud as Rias continued to soothe Asia and help her leave the court, "We still have a lot of anger to take out on that last TRASH!"

He heaved a ball and threw it at the stationary blond boy with all his strength.

Calm dipping one finger around the ball, Naruto diverted the momentum away until it bled off and the ball was left spinning on the tip of his finger, "Oii…" He called out lazily, "You heard them right? Apparently we're honest and sweet guys."

"Ahh." The dark haired boy who was still on the ground replied with an equally lazy tone, "I'm not as bad as you, but I always thought I'm a first rate loser, so I'm pretty sure I'm trash of society right? Honestly... I don't mind being called that…."

The blond grunted as Ise easily caught another ball with a serious look, "Maybe you don't, but even if I know I can't study, at least I have a legitimate reason for it, but you know what?"

"What?" The ball groaned under Ise's grip as he surged forward and blasted it towards the closest player, blowing him clear out of court."

Naruto very calmly deflected the balls away from him before the one in his hands was sent towards the left most Basketball player. The streaming jet of a ball blasted the player clear out of the field with a rare ferocity "I really don't like being all worked up about a silly game, but if being a winner in this society means trampling on others who just can't study, if it gives you the right to bully a soft girl like Asia-chan, then I'd rather be Trash of Society."

"You know what that means, Naruto?"

"**IT MEANS WE'RE COMING FOR YOU, ASSHOLES!" **

******End Game******

**End Chapter 4**

**Katon : Hiiro Urami**– Fire release : Crimson (Fire Colored) Grudge

**Raiton : Ikazuchi no Kiba** – Lightning Release : Fang of Thunder


	5. Misfortune Versus Stupidity

**End Game: Ver R Chapter 5**

**Misfortune versus Stupidity **

**Disclaimer : Disclaimer : I don't own anything. Don't own Highschool Dragons of Dragons or Naruto. I do own the concepts and plots that I introduced into the story. Also, because of the connection between Highschool Dxd and multiple Religions and Myths, I am sorry if I have accidentally written something wrong and offended someone's belief/faith etc. I just did some basic research and filled the holes in by myself so it is only natural if I get something wrong.**

Alright guys, exams are over woohoo! On the not so woohoo side, Kishi's flight is day after tomorrow. End Game 6 will come out in eh… a day or so.

For the record, Kishi nearly blew his top after I wrote this, but no matter how much he disliked it, he couldn't disagree because he could very easily see it happening. Which arguably, made it worse.

Post edit note, chapter didn't upload properly the first time for some reason. Didn't notice it, sorry guys. So here you go.

**Sound track List**

Steve Perry – I Stand Alone

HomeMade Kazoku – Thank You

Hataraku Maou OST – The Strength of a Hero and a Devil

******End Game******

**Play Steve Perry – I Stand Alone**

Akeno's lips thinned severely as she whacked the little green ball back to the other side, viciously scoring a point. Lifting one hand up to flick away the beads of sweat from her forehead elegantly, she smiled beatifically, mostly for the benefit of all the students surrounding their court.

That being said, it was lucky that none of them could hear her thoughts, or the flaming curses in Kuou Academy's Raven Haired Princess' mind would have sent them all running for the nearest toilet with pale faces.

As the cheers rose even higher, her dark eyes returned to her opponents across the net. The Occult Research Club had been paired up in a Tennis match, against the Tennis Club reigning champions, and Akeno, no matter how skilled she was, was having a hard time dealing with the two experienced players without the benefit of her demonic strength and speed even if her dignity would not allow her to show it.

To make matters even worse, it was a doubles match, and her supposed partner; a lazy blond was slacking away on the back of the court and was very clearly NOT doing anything to help her. And by that, she meant that he was simply prancing away every time the small bouncing ball came anywhere near to him.

It was a miracle they hadn't lost yet. That and her own pride wouldn't let her lose without a fight.

Originally, she would have been partnered with Rias against the Student Council, but since Rias had excused herself to calm Asia down, Souna Sitri had changed the match up, obviously thinking that without Rias' presence, there was no point having a competition.

And since everybody else had gone to comfort Asia, this left Akeno with the shitty lolicon of a blond.

And if that STILL wasn't already bad enough, she had to suffer the indignity of being woken up the day after the Rating Match and being told that Naruto of all people had served Raiser's steaming chicken ass to him on a silver platter, complete with apple shoved up its hole.

Nothing Rias did could make her believe THAT.

Right up until she had seen the match recording herself, and even then her reluctance to believe was still strong. If her childhood friend believed that just seeing some random video about the Uzumaki's supposed skill would get her to warm up to him, she had something lose in her head.

Besides, there was no way that the shitty blond was THAT skilled.

A small wicked smirk touched her lips and the dark haired Yamato Nadeshiko angled her tennis racquet. Mid slide, she pretended to slip a little and overextended too much, causing the ball to skid off her racquet like a stone skidding on water.

She even added a ferocious little spin to it.

If he was really that skillful, then he could easily avoid this couldn't he?

There was a solid smack as the ball skipped off her racquet and flew straight at Naruto, beaning him right in the nose.

The noisy court instantly went silent as Naruto's eyes rolled up into his head and he hit the floor.

Then they began cheering again anyway as the umpire declared the Tennis Club's victory and the Uzumaki's shameful defeat.

Sighing, Akeno rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Well… at least it proved that Rias had an active imagination.

Nudging the swirly eyed blond with one dainty toe, she snorted at him, "I know you're still awake, so get up. I'm not going to carry you out of here."

Blue eyes glared at her before the blond wearily stood up, ignoring the jeers from the students at his gall for being so close to their idol.

"….. What the _fuck _do you think you were doing?" The blond quietly bit out with a nasal twang as he held his nose with a pained look while the two of them left the court.

Akeno bowed slightly with a completely false look of apology as they walked, "I'm sorry, I missed," the look in her eyes and her terribly sweet smile completed the rest of her sentence even without her having to, "Your balls."

"Don't you have an image to keep up or something?" Naruto noted cynically, "If somebody heard the idol of Kuou Academy discussing my testicles, I'm fairly sure they're about to get a heart attack."

Swiftly, the ark haired girl cautiously glanced around them before straightening with a slight flush on her cheeks at being so careless, "Well, it's your fault. You deserved it for skipping around and not helping."

"It's a game." Naruto commented with an indifferent air, "Why should I care about who wins?"

"I thought you pledged yourself to Rias?" the dark haired girl flicked her ponytail at him airily, "The Occult Research Club's defeat is her defeat, and she takes losses very hard you know."

"Whether she does or not, a meaningless game does not translate to me putting any effort into it. The only reason I did it the last time was because there was something at stake." The blond scoffed as he gingerly poked at his slightly crooked nose, "Do I get anything meaningful if we win this one? No. No, I don't…" His eyes wandered shiftily as he mumbled quietly to himself, "and I'm still not entirely sure that last one was worth it either."

"You better hope that argument works then," Akeno answered tauntingly, "Because you get to be the one to tell Rias why we lost."

"Your looks are completely wasted on that terrible personality of yours. Even that short tennis skirt and soothingly lacy white underwear doesn't help."

"… You want to feel how deliciously painful my spells are?"

"What?" Naruto gave her an incredulous look, "You were the one who practically shoved that view in my face with how you kept _bouncing _around in front of me. With a prime seat like that, I couldn't NOT see it even if I wanted to."

"If I find out that the real reason you didn't properly participate in that match was because you were too distracted by my skirt, you are going to die right now."

"Don't you find it just a little unfair that you can smile at Issei for practically stuffing his face up your skirt but I get a death threat just for being in the right place, one that you put me in the first place?"

"He's better looking than a savage like you for one."

"And here's the part where I thank you."

Akeno quirked one eyebrow at the non sequitur, "For what?"

"For reminding me why I was a hermit until the two of you dragged me back into this," He glanced around the school distastefully, "….place."

She snorted in an unprincess-like manner, "If it helps, I was against it from the start. Now don't you have something to do?"

The genuinely confused blond blinked like a deer in headlights, "What?"

Akeno gestured to the broad, leafy tree sitting in a secluded corner of their Academy. What drew his attention however, was the fact that Rias, Asia, a worried looking Issei and Koneko was sitting under it while he could just barely see Kiba's hunched over profile on the other side of the three with his back to them.

"Tsk."

Akeno frowned as the blond stopped walking, "What's wrong?"

When he didn't answer, the raven haired princess blinked and slowly smirked as she watched the blond stiffly gaze at the small group under the tree's great shadow.

He almost looked confused, if not outright scared, but the way he stared at them made it clear that it wasn't the prospect of conveying their loss to Rias that made him react that way.

It was Asia.

"Are you…" She licked her lips with a pleasurable smile, "scared?"

"Not scared," Naruto countered blandly, his eyes still fixed on the small group, "Confused. I don't think I've ever had anyone be unconditionally nice to me without me first beating the shit out of them."

"Oh….?"

Naruto gave her a dry look at the questioning drawl, "Not to mention I don't think I've even interacted with her all that much… actually I think I can even count them all on one hand. Issei is one thing, but I've pretty much been nothing but a jerkass to her the entire time, so even if I appreciate the sentiment, why would she just go off like that?"

Akeno frowned, "You can understand the fact that you've been a complete bastard to _all of us_ this entire time but you can't understand something as simple and instinctive like that?"

"If it's so _simple and instinctive _then why don't you clarify it for me?" The blond replied testily, he had not missed the emphasis she put on _all of us_.

Ask him to deal with a raging psychopath with loneliness issues? Kick his ass. Someone who grew up doing nothing but training or fighting? Kick his ass.

A delusional girl who would stand up for him, making herself a pariah in the process?

Not exactly something an ass kicking would solve.

"Ohoh?" Her eyebrow slowly rose at the sudden power she seemed to have over him, "The great, apathetic Uzumaki finally admits he can't do something?"

The blond shot her a withering look, "Yes, I can't do everything. Now will you tell me?"

Akeno's eyes glinted gleefully, "Why should I simply help a shitty lolicon like you why when there's nothing in it for me?"

"I always knew that was going to bite me in the ass one day." Naruto commented blandly, "What do you want, you sadistic witch?"

"I'm a shrine maiden, there's a difference." Akeno replied in a clipped tone, "And as for what I want, a promise that you owe me will do for now."

The Uzumaki slowly nodded with a blank expression.

"That's not going to work," Akeno pointed out maliciously, "I know how you like to skip over little things like promises if you can find a loophole," A pleasurable shiver ran up and down her back and she bit her knuckle to keep the moan in, "I want to** hear** you say that you are _obligated _to me now."

"….. You have a serious problem, do you know that?"

"Say it."

"Hai hai, I owe you, Himejima Akeno, the sadistic pervert a favour for explaining something simple to an idiot like me." Naruto droned flatly.

A red flush colored her cheeks as she shuddered one last time, for reasons that Naruto did not want to know, before calming down, "Put simply, so easily that a shitty pervert like you can understand, she wants to be friends with you."

"Eh?"

Akeno sighed at the blond's stupid look, "She's a meek and innocent girl and she's more or less made friends with the rest of us, except for you. I personally don't see why, but she seems to _think _that you're not just a shitty pervert lolicon,"

"You mind dropping that lolicon part?"

Akeno continued as if she hadn't heard him, "and until she can at least gain your acknowledgement, she seems to feel that she hasn't been properly accepted by us, and that's what she wants the most, especially considering her background."

Naruto tiredly ran one hand through his hair and closed his eyes, "You're not lying." He stated quietly.

"I am Rias Gremory's Queen, and as her Queen, Rias's wishes are mine." Akeno replied bluntly, "At the moment, her wish is for her Peerage to come together as one and for all of us to get stronger together. If that means pretending to be completely alright with being oogled like a piece of meat by Issei to build up his low self esteem, then I will do it happily even though I must admit that the sheer admiration he has for my body is rather flattering if sickening. By that same logic, if telling you this can help you understand even one of us better and accept us despite Asia's privacy, then there is no reason why should I be coy and mislead you with cloudy hints just for the sake of my own entertainment. Something that the old man at your shop understands far better than you seem to…."

She smiled pleasantly, "Well that and getting you as my slave for a day helps as well."

One eyebrow rose, "How in the world does owing you a favor translate to being your slave for a day? Never mind, don't answer that, I get the impression that understanding the way your mind works will traumatize me." The blond observed with an amused smirk.

"You're just not at that level of maturity yet." She retorted airily as she eyed him calculatively, "Of course, no one said you had to reciprocate. You can always simply ignore her; stay away like you seem to want to do. Reject her. Break her heart into tiny little pieces. Prove to me that I was right and you really are nothing but an utterly pathetic, self serving, bastard."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were biased against me." The blond commented with a mild look.

"I'm not biased against you." Akeno said with a perfectly beautiful and composed expression, "I utterly despise you."

"I'm surprised a complete sadist like you can understand her though."

"Not all of us started out as complete sadists. Some of us were lonely, abandoned little girls." The dark haired girl commented snidely.

He glanced at her, "Right... And I like to prance around in a neon orange jumpsuit."

Akeno simply smirked at the blond's sarcastic reply.

Sighing to himself, the blond turned his eyes to the Heavens and began strolling towards them.

"Time to break an innocent, kind girl's heart then."

******End Game******

Rias looked up as she faintly felt the presence of her trusted Queen and Pawn approach them and smiled faintly, though she didn't make any other attempt to acknowledge them because of the girl hanging to her sleeve while the rest waved at the remaining two members of their club.

"Yo." The blond boy waved with a lazy flick of his wrist.

"…. Took you long enough." Koneko murmured from above them where she was lounging on a branch.

"Don't give me that crap," Naruto retorted with a huff as he plopped down on the ground beside Asia., "All of you left while I was in the toilet and when I got out, the huffy princess over there forced me to play doubles with her because no one else was there. Which, incidentally, is why we lost. I didn't even know what tennis was."

Asia softly giggled at his childish pout, "Uzumaki-san," The young blond girl who was now between Rias and him smiled weakly, "I'm sorry about that earlier outburst, it must have surprised you."

Naruto's childish pout shifted into a crooked half smile, "Just a little. You shouldn't have painted a target on your back just for someone like me though."

Her voice broke a little and Rias shot him a warning look, "If it made you uncomfortable, I don't mind going… away."

The blond boy wrinkled his nose, "Why in the world would you want to do that? If anything, Issei and I should be the ones to go. It's not like we matter much anyway."

"You can't!" Asia suddenly exploded with an indignant gleam in her eyes, "The two of you are strong, and Buchou needs the two of you!"

Naruto watched curiously as the girl deflated, "Not like me… someone as useless and clumsy as me who could only heal Issei a little. I who couldn't even hurt someone… couldn't even help stop Buchou's marriage…" Her eyes gained a burning gleam of admiration again, "But the two of you were so strong. The two of you kept fighting even though you have less experience then me. Even if they hate me, it wouldn't matter if I left…."

She hiccupped a little and she gave him a pure and innocent smile, "I'm already used to being alone. So I'll be fine."

**Play ****Hataraku Maou OST – The Strength of a Hero and a Devil**

In that moment, Naruto vaguely understood something.

Her distorted upbringing had destroyed her of any self esteem she had. She lived solely for other people and her entire life circled around giving herself to others first and foremost.

He had seen her expression in the mirror often enough.

Scratching the back of his head with a complicated expression, he glanced around the clearing at the assembled Occult Club with a measured gaze.

"…. I knew a boy like you once." He began quietly and a faraway look, "He grew up alone as well. All around him, people were strong, but he was weak and crippled. Everything he did for them, he did because he wanted to help people, not because he was sincerely nice. It was because he thought if he helped them; he would be recognized, acknowledged, but you wouldn't expect a lame cripple to be able to help strong people right?"

Asia's eyes were fixed on him with interest, "What did he do? Did he get friends?"

"He did." Naruto replied with a strangely soft smile, so much so that almost none of them could believe it, "Even though he was weak, he tried to help. At first, he only pretended to be nice, but as he kept trying, kept grinding away at the obstacles in front of him, the gleam in his eyes, the pure determination he had to help others slowly brought people, people who could see past his physical limitations and understood the significance of his efforts, feel the warmth in his hands."

"Slowly, he learnt something. He honestly, sincerely, wanted them to be happy, but it wasn't just for himself anymore, but because these people, who believed and accepted a cripple like him were worth the effort. He believed that if they were happy, then he would be too. You're just like that boy now, you who used to live like that, have drawn people who can see that you're not worthless to you."

Asia's clear green eyes widened, "I have?"

"Look around you." Naruto replied humorously, as the girl gazed around the clearing, meeting every single one of them in the eye, "Before this you were alone. But now you have all of them. Before this you were empty, but because of them, you're not hollow anymore. That automatically means you're not useless. If you are hurt, these people who believed in you will be hurt just as badly."

Asia's eyes were fixed on the group before them as she spoke softly, "What happened then?"

"Hmmm…." The blue eyed blond smiled crookedly, "The boy continued to work hard and his friends showed him that just because he was a cripple, it didn't mean he was weak. It didn't matter if he couldn't strong in the same way the others were. He had his own kind of strength."

"An honest one…."

_A malicious laugh echoed through the empty basin they were in and bounced off the smooth walls of the valley, another result of one of the Ten Tail's overpowered blasts of chakra as he stood atop its head as the almost humanoid creature slowly bloated to grotesque proportions. Embedded in its forehead, slightly below Madara's position, was a white eyed Obito, staked into its forehead with dark metal poles as the older Uchiha used his great descendant as a controller for the beast whose sheer presence and powered blotted out the sun, throwing the sky into an inky blackness as the world slowly threatened to destabilize completely. _

_Below him, the remnants of the Great Shinobi army were gathered with intense expressions. Even with everything he had thrown at them, massive, world destroying blasts of chakra, insane abominations made of the Ten Tail's flesh, immortal resurrected zombies, they still refused to yield. Even using the Ten Tail's insane power and range to destroy their homes, Konohagakure, Kirigakure, Sunagakure, Kumogakure and Iwagakure where a clear majority of all the civilians and non combatants were hiding, in an attempt to demoralize them had backfired on him significantly._

_With the help of the four resurrected Fire Shadows and the Five live ones, each and every one of them was an army unto themselves; they had slowly driven him and the Ten Tails back until Madara finally realized that his loss was inevitable._

_No matter what happened, he had already lost. Rather than fall into despair and let him take away that pain with his illusion, they had refused to back down. _

_And at the head of it all was a blond with his burning gaze set on him, to his left was the pink haired apprentice of Tsunade and to his right, Orochimaru's own student and the last of his own descendants, Uchiha Sasuke. _

_They had chosen to die as free men rather than live as slaves to him. _

_It seemed like nothing would break their defiance, and even if by some miracle, they stopped fighting and yielded to his and Obito's wishes to put them under his ultimate illusion for peace; it would no longer matter because with so few people remaining, the logical conclusion was that they would die out in a few generations anyway, particularly with their world already so torn apart. _

_But he refused to go down alone. _

_Madara's eyes glowed with an insane light as he grinned wickedly, and so he had chosen the next most logical step. _

_If they were all going to die anyway, if they refused to receive the peace he wanted to bestow upon them, then he would grant them the peace of the grave. Using Obito as his conduit rather than Sasuke, the Ten Tails slowly bloated up like a monstrous balloon as it slowly gathered up every shred of energy it had, and as a near divine entity, it had a lot. _

_Of course, the group of Shinobi at the foot of the monsters did more than watch warily, but Madara already had a plan in place._

_He couldn't help that one last attempt at breaking their spirit. _

_Teleporting in front of the two blond's swathed in a golden swirling aura; he lifted one finger and waggled it at them with a grin, "Not so fast, Minato-san, Naruto-san. You don't want to die NOW, do you?" _

_The father and son couple shared a wary look before the large combination Rasengan they had been preparing to break the Ten Tail's defenses slowly puttered away, "What are you trying to do now, Madara?" _

_His long, shaggy black hair shook as Madara laughed quietly, "Nothing. I simply recognize that I've already lost this battle." He spread his hands with a helpless little smile that didn't suit his disposition._

_He saw their eyes flick to the monster behind him; it was so large now that the crown of its head had breached the clouds above them. _

_The younger blond grunted, "If that's the case, then step aside and let us deal with this thing." _

_Madara did nothing to stop the younger man as he moved around the Uchiha except grin, "Are you really sure you want to do that?" _

"_Don't do it Naruto," Minato's eyes narrowed at the grinning zombie, "he's hiding something." _

"_Of course I am," the purple eyed Uchiha admitted with a genuinely happy grin and made sure that his voice carried to the rest of the wary looking ninjas as he delivered his ultimatum, "Well technically, I could still fight but there's no point. No matter I do, your spirit will not break and if all of you suicidal maniacs are going to throw yourselves at the Juubi until there's no one left alive for me to rule, I might as well make it more interesting."_

_The Fourth Hokage's eyes immediately snapped towards the Juubi as he understood everything in a split second. Calculations began running through his mind as he sought the best way to deal with this new threat while Madara continued to talk "The Ten Tails is currently gathering every bit of power that it has, and when it has finished, it will self destruct in an explosion that will tear our entire galaxy apart. Of course, I won't stop you if you try to attack him now."_

_Madara very deliberately scratched his chin with a casually curious expression that showed just how much he cared, which was to say very little, "The moment you do, it will explode anyway, and even if it doesn't have enough power to destroy EVERYTHING yet, I'm fairly sure that this planet won't survive with half of it missing." _

_There was a deep, pregnant silence before it was abruptly broken by a tidal wave of incredulous roars that sent shivers of pleasure down the Uchiha's back as the Great Shinobi army simultaneously cursed him and his mother and his father. _

"_You might as well use this last few minutes to… you know, hug each other or something before the world ends," The dead Uchiha smiled tauntingly at them, "You can try anything you want, but you'll fail. Not even I can stop it now that it has started." _

_Some of them moved to attack him but surprisingly, Hashirama of all people held up one hand to stop him, "Don't waste your energy." The undead First Hokage's voice rang clearly with authority even as he shot his old rival a distasteful look, "Even if he's a disgusting little rat, he will never lie."_

"_I resent that remark; I am not and will never be a rat." Madara paused and glanced at the army, "Why aren't you all kissing each other yet? I'm sure plenty of you are still virgins. That's the only reason I can think of to explain why all of you are so idiotically single minded."_

_As they bristled at his casual tone, the Uchiha simply grinned wider, making it very clear that he intended to enjoy it until everything turned to dust. _

_Minato stared up at the titanic blob with calculating eyes before he moved. Teleporting directly in front of the great entity, he clapped his hands together and began a long chain of hand signs that only caused Madara to laugh in a carefree manner while Hashirama watched him curiously, "It's really amusing you know. Any time you can't do something yourself, it seems like your last resort is to summon the Shinigami, that's a serious character flaw you have there, Minato-chan." _

_True to the Uchiha's words, a bone deep chill began spreading out from ground zero as the air before the Fourth Hokage shimmered and thickened like liquid until a ghastly white entity with wrinkled and lined bluish purple skin materialized slowly._

_Unlike before, the twisted entity scowled angrily at the Fourth Hokage, an uncharacteristic hatred burned in its sunken eyes, "__**How DARE you summon me?"**_

_Minato took a hesitant step back from the divine entity; he had never actually heard the being speak before and it was soul shaking. But he could not afford to stop here, "Respected Death God, I summon you once more to ask for a favor." He gestured at the wobbling blob of white stuff that used to be the Ten Tails, "In return for my life, I ask that you seal the Ten Tails before it is too late." _

"_**Favor?"**__ A cold, rattling whisper echoed across the valley, sending chills down everyone's' spines even though they were at least a few hundred meters away from the specter, __**"Was violating my domain not enough for you? Was stealing thousands of souls from my very grasp not good enough for you? You despoiled my sacred duty, and now you, who have already passed on, you whose soul ALREADY belongs to me, have the GALL to ask me for another favor?! Be happy that I am bound by these accursed rules by which you have summoned me, or I would destroy your very existence right here and now!"**_

"_But we are doing what is right!" The blond undead Hokage spluttered, "If you don't help us, even more will die!"_

"_**And why should I favor you just because of that?"**__ The floating Death God mumbled scathingly, __**"You think there are no other wars? Thousands of people have lived unequal lives and died unfairly. Thousands of lives were taken, their deaths were completely meaningless but life and death goes on. What makes you and the rest of you so special? You think fighting for the **__right __**cause gives you preferential treatment?"**_

"_Does that mean you cannot do it?" Tobirama who had been silent up till now commented blandly, "It looks like we've been overestimating you."_

_The entity hissed softly, __**"You DARE, Tobirama?" **_

"_I dare and more." The second Hokage replied blithely, "I am already dead, whether or not you torture my soul after this makes no difference to me." _

_The specter grunted at the Second Hokage's apathetic tone, __**"I can do it. But not easily. Something of this magnitude requires a greater sacrifice."**__ It grinned in the direction of the Shinobi Army, __**"That army over there will do just fine."**_

_It smiled cruelly and seemed to float towards the horde of tantalizing souls,__** "Be warned though, as punishment for all you and your race has done to violate the sanctity of death, whoever is sacrificed, will never exist in this world ever again. You will never see the face of your loved ones I will rip everything from your sacrifice and leave them stranded but alive, alive to contemplate the torture your cowardice, your fear of dying when there is a possibility of surviving has put them through."**_

_The gathered shinobi took one step back simultaneously as its cold gaze landed on them with a dreadful desire in its eyes, all of them hesitant to volunteer, especially with that cruel sentence hanging above them. _

"_Leave them alone." _

_The wind ruffled his short blond hair as he stepped up with a calm, almost peaceful expression, "I'll do it. My life for theirs." _

"_Naruto! You can't!" Minato tried to argue as Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, widened his eyes. Darting towards the younger boy, he grabbed Naruto's elbow roughly, "What do you THINK you're doing?!" _

_The rest of the Shadows who had hurried to the blond's side the moment they heard his declaration nodded as well, "You've already done too much," Tsunade hissed with a look at the Raikage's stony expression. She knew very well that the man would not offer the life of his own brother, not even for Naruto, "This burden is ours, not yours!"_

"_It has to be me," _

_He could faintly hear everybody else, even Sakura, and Kakashi arguing, shouting, pleading and begging for him not to do this, to let them do it instead but it failed to penetrate the strange shroud of utter certainty that his internal conversation with Kurama had created._

_The two of them had come to an agreement. _

_They would trust. _

_Crystal blue eyes gazed at the old man and his father and he idly wondered if they felt this way before they sacrificed themselves as well. His eyes slowly shifted to the rest of the Kage, resting for a little longer on Tsunade who had offered her own soul instead of him, then on all of his friends, as if silently memorizing their faces one last time, before they went back to his father and Sandaime jiji. _

_The two role models that had shaped his life from the very beginning, and they shivered at the conviction in those crystalline orbs, "__**Because my goal is to be Hokage**__." _

Naruto blinked as he felt someone's head resting on his shoulders. Gazing downwards, he realized that Asia had fallen asleep. Snuffling softly, the petite, timid girl buried her nose deeper in his sleeve.

"I didn't think that story was that boring." Naruto commented self depreciatingly, "I guess I talk too much."

"She's just tired. Keeping her inability to help in that Rating Match bottled up for so long must have drained her." Rias who was on Asia's other side assured him gently, her own sleeve was clamped in the blond girl's other fist, preventing her from going anywhere; "You on the other hand, haven't finished that story."

"What happened to the boy?" Kiba who had been silent up till now suddenly asked with an intense look, "Did the cripple really give up his own freedom, reputation and abilities? He accepted the death sentence just to help some people who have barely done anything but give him a place to stay?"

Naruto eyed the strangely acting swordsman before shrugging casually, "It might be pointless to you, but it was a worthy goal for him. He gave himself for others and the police took him instead of his family. It was a Happy Ending."

"But it **wasn't **a Happy Ending was it?" The look on his face intensified and he spoke with a cynical smirk, "Fairy tales have a tendency to turn into tragedies once you look deeper," His smirk was so bitter Naruto could almost feel it radiating from him, "Almost like how all great magical swords were forged from the lives of a million screaming souls."

The blond gave him a mild look, "What makes you say that?"

Kiba growled softly, "He sat alone in a dark prison, without anyone to help him. Wasn't he angry that everyone had left him to take the death sentence in their place? He believed in them so much, he trusted them but once he was in jail, forced to run away to keep his life, didn't he lose everything he had put his trust in?"

"Maybe," Naruto smiled faintly, "I wouldn't know what happened. After all, it's just a story."

Grunting, Kiba pushed off the tree and stormed away with an unsatisfied expression.

"I don't think I've ever seen him lose his temper like that," Issei commented quietly.

"Whatever it was, it has nothing to do with me." Naruto grunted gruffly, "Incidentally, can someone get Asia off my sleeve?"

"Just leave her there, Naruto." The red haired Princess murmured quietly as she ran her hand through the blonde girl's soft hair with a loving caress, "You won't die from letting her cling to you for a few more minutes."

"I'd rather she use Issei as a bolster instead of me."

Rias threw an amused look at the uncomfortable looking brown haired boy, "So would he."

Naruto heaved an exasperated sigh, "Fine, whatever."

Rias' clear green eyes landed on the blond with a strange emotion glimmering in them, "Tell me something, is the boy happy now?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe yes or Maybe no?"

"There's a difference?"

"Answer the question, Naruto." Rias immediately shot back with a clipped, authoritative tone.

"Fine, fine," The blond grumbled, "Maybe yes."

Rias nodded with a satisfied expression, "Good."

As he shifted slightly to try and find a more comfortable position that would not result in a bruised ass when Asia woke up, Naruto had to freeze when the blond girl's grip on his sleeve suddenly tightened and she buried herself deeper in his arm, "No…." the girl sniffed weakly.

"Don't leave me… papa."

"…"

Akeno couldn't help but grin at the horror struck expression plastered on Naruto's face, "You know… if the two of you actually end up having a daughter, she would probably look just like Asia-chan. Blonde hair, green eyes and not as irritating as her parents."

Rias promptly went as red as a tomato, "And you would be an auntie!" She snapped at her best friend.

Slowly, Naruto turned his eyes to the Heavens as the two of them began trading insults in a hushed voice.

"If you can hear this, whoever you are... When I find you…. I am going to take my own sweet time dismembering you."

Naruto didn't move an inch for the next 6 hours.

******End Game******

**Play HomeMade Kazoku – Thank You**

"Jackassss…." The head on the alcove groaned as the insistent knocking on their door woke the two of them up, "Go get the damn door. It's too early to be up"

The figure under the motorcycle where he had fallen asleep mid tinkering the night before grunted, "Go…" There was a massive yawn from under the vehicle, "Get it yourself nut bag."

"No hands remember?" Madara slurped the drool that had dribbled down his chin back up, "And since that's your fault. You get the door."

Muttering some obscenities under his breath, Naruto slid out from under the broken piece of junk. Uncaring of his somewhat disheveled and admittedly stinky state, the blond slipped one hand under his oil stained orange shirt and scratched his tummy with a sleepy look, "Who…. is it?"

"It's me."

On the other side of the door Akeno glared at the door with disbelief as she heard the bolt slamming shut, "Did you just lock the door?!"

Naruto glanced at Madara, "You think she'll leave if I chuck you at her?"

"Open this door NARUTO!"

"Probably, but if you try, I swear I'm going to bite your fingers off."

"I'm going to BLAST IT OPEN IF YOU DON'T OPEN IT YOURSELF!"

"Maybe I can pretend I'm not in…" The sleepy blond muttered to himself, "This is my first day off in weeks, and there's no school either. I am NOT wasting it on them."

"THREE!"

The purple eyed head with cracked and flaking skin grinned widely as they heard the sound of electricity crackling on the other side, "Well, you better decide fast, or you're going to be VERY cold for the next few days."

"So will you, and who says I can't fix a door?"

"TWO!"

"I'm a head," Madara dead panned, "I don't feel jack, and do you really want to waste your time fixing a door?"

"Good point."

Akeno was just about to blow the small shed away when the door swung open to show a blond with a half assed expression standing there, one hand in his boxers as he scratched himself, "What…" Yawn, "is it?"

"Buchou requests your presence at the club room," Akeno wrinkled her nose at the disheveled blond, "Though I'm sure she can wait until you… clean up. Properly."

The blond sighed painfully, instinctively realizing that there was no arguing with this, "Whatever, just sit on the bed or something while I get ready. Haven't got around to fixing that chair yet."

Carefully stepping into the dark room, Akeno blinked as her Devil's eyes automatically got used to the dim light while the usually talkative head made sure to keep absolutely silent for some strange reason, not even rattling in his alcove like he usually did to get some attention.

His gleeful stare unnerved her so much that she made sure not to meet his gaze by keeping her focus solely on the contents of the small building.

It wasn't as dirty as she remembered it to be, in fact, it was downright neat, all his collected junk neatly stacked in a row along the rows of the narrow building, with the exception of one corner where that the blond seemed to specifically use to tinker with stuff. Glancing for somewhere to wait for him, she sighed and gingerly wound her way through the neatly stacked junk and plunked her butt on the bed while the sound of rushing water came from the other room.

"What does Rias want me for anyway?" The blond called out from his make shift shower room.

Giving her wrist watch a quick look, Akeno replied, "You're supposed to get your familiars today since it was the only day Buchou would be free as well. Now hurry up, we're going to be lat-."

Akeno jumped as the small orange clock on the mantel began blaring. That being said, the alarm clock was nothing compared to what happened next, and Akeno almost thought she was going to get a heart attack as a wet blond burst out of the toilet with wide eyes, a wet towel hurriedly wrapped around his waist.

Then he threw himself at Akeno.

"Kyaaaaa! RAPE!" The dark haired princess screamed her lungs out as she felt the blond's body tackle her off the bed, dripping wet water all over her in the process.

"**Don't. Move**." Naruto whispered in her ear as he kept her pressed to the floor, his eyes were fully alert, flicking this way and that.

Understandably confused and somewhat upset at her ruined dress, Akeno barely had the presence of mind to even knee him in the testicles when she saw something from the corner of her eye the moment the alarm stopped ringing.

Namely the bed she had been sitting on getting skewered by a hundred pointy bamboo spears.

"MOVE!"

Pulling her up roughly, Akeno was just about to start screaming her lungs out when she heard the sound of something pressurizing. His hands flicked out and he caught six forks that shot out of the WALL like they had been blasted out of canons. Expertly fitting them between his fingers in one fluid move, his hands almost seemed to blur as he deflected a hail of forks out of the air.

The moment the forks stopped shooting out of the walls, Naruto yelled again, "ROLL!"

"Eek!"

Tackling her bodily, Naruto forced her to duck and roll as bamboo spears began shooting out of the floor, impaling everything within range, until she felt her back hit a wall.

Pressed in between the wall and Naruto's body, Akeno was seriously starting to doubt the blond's sanity when he suddenly pulled her up not a moment too soon as the bamboo spears popped up from the spot where they had been lying.

The room was silent as the blond wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

"….."

The entire time, the disembodied head was rattling away with laughter in his little alcove, "You forgot to turn off the traps!"

"TRAPS?!" The female Devil burst out with a slightly hysterical note in her voice.

"Would it make you feel better if I said I was a heavy sleeper?"

"YOU TRAPPED YOUR DAMNED ROOM BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T WAKE-"

She was cut off by the sound of thick liquid being unblocked by pressure as a lone sharp fork, a delayed trap, cut through the air and before she knew it, the blond had thrown one arm up.

The handle of a fork vibrated with a audible twang, its other end was buried deep in the back of his bicep.

Naruto frowned at the fork, "That's strange. It's not supposed to do that." He tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Not a bad idea though, I'm going to see if I can make them come in waves instead of all at once. Mix it up a little."

Akeno blinked.

If he hadn't blocked it for her, it would have speared her in the eye.

"You forgot to oil the traps too! GAHAHA! Oh God, this is hilarious!"

She fried the head with a blast of thunder just to shut it up.

"Ow..."

"**And** **You….."** One look at the charred, smoking head and Naruto threw his hands up in the air at the smoking finger being pointed in his direction and the low poisonous hiss.

Without his hands to support them, his towel dropped to the floor.

Her brow twitched as her eyes were inevitably drawn downwards, **"….Get dressed. Now."**

"Uh….."

Akeno hissed like an angry cat**, "What?"**

He gestured at his exposed privates with a helpless look, "Can you go out while I change?"

Her eye twitched again.

Spinning around, she stormed out of the room without another word.

"…That went well. I think."

Madara's blackened head sneezed out a cloud of smoke, "Understatement of the year. Crazy lightning bitch doesn't have a sense of humor."

"No, yours is just too twisted for anyone to understand." The blond countered glibly, "It's why Hashirama dumped you for Konoha, remember?"

A satisfied grin touched his lips as Naruto closed the door behind him, shutting out the sounds of Madara's obscene cursing, "Ah…. This is going to be a _wonderful _day."

******End Game******

"….This is going to be a_ terrible _day."

Souna Sitri's eyebrow rose slightly, "The moment you see me in your clubroom and your day immediately becomes terrible? I'm not sure if I'm offended or pleased."

"No offense, but it usually means that I'm about to be dragged into something tiresome." Naruto replied with a clipped tone.

"Naruto, damn you! You delayed my harem! I could have started building my harem sooner but you just had to get in the way!"

The blond glanced at the boy who was bouncing up and down like a monkey dismissively, "It appears I can't speak idiot because I have no idea what he's talking about. Translation anyone?"

"Naruto." Rias said warningly as she waved at him to take a seat.

"Technically, the two of them," She gestured at Asia and Issei, "already graduated from handing out fliers some time ago and should have gotten their familiars as well," Rias shot then blond lounging on his blood splattered sofa, "But I was waiting for a certain someone's reserves to finally grow enough to handle the burden of a familiar. Everyone else here other than the three of you already have their own familiars."

A small flapping bat appeared beside Rias as Koneko affectionately stroked the small white kitten resting on her lap.

"So you can imagine that he got a little upset at hearing that."

"Then you wasted his time because I'm fairly don't need this familiar thingy."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Rias replied just as calmly, "Acquiring your own familiar is an important step in a Devil's life cycle. Besides, if you don't go, I'm going to send a thousand rotten fish to the ramen store every day until you agree."

"You demon!"

"I'm a demon, what about it?" Rias countered placidly.

Naruto sighed with some resignation, "Fine, fine…. Let's just get this over with. Chances are I'm going to end up with something fox-like anyway."

"Oh? Why would you say that?"

"Instinct." The blond replied dryly before Asia hesitantly tapped his shoulder, "A-Ano… if you don't mind, I'm happy that we can get our familiars together."

Running his fingers through his hair again, the blond coughed gruffly and ruffled her hair with a complicated expression, "I am too Asia, I'm just a little lazy to get excited about it."

"Heheh…" Asia shyly nudged the palm a little, as if to encourage the petting.

Quietly sighing to himself, Naruto shuffled away from the blonde girl, "So how are we going to get these familiar thingy?"

"About that…."

Naruto groaned and buried his face in his hands, "I was wondering when you were going to have a part in our little discussion, Sitri-san."

The dark haired beauty didn't seem to be offended by Naruto's antics for some reason, instead she simply smirked, "I simply heard that Rias were going to get a familiar for her new slaves and hurried over to see if I could go first since I had more new slaves than her. Five in fact, but I believe you've already met Saji?"

The messy haired boy beside Souna piped up proudly, "It's been a long time, swine. Too bad it couldn't last."

"Oh, it's you. How was your flight?"

"You…. Because of your little trick, I who was supposed to get my familiar earlier then you two perverts was stuck in a hospital for nearly a month!"

"OI! Who are you calling swine?!"

Naruto ignored Issei and glanced at Rias, "Translation please?"

"You broke his legs and I forced him to heal the slow way as punishment for being so reckless. As a result, he couldn't get his familiar until today, along with four of his new comrades." Souna cut in smoothly.

"Technically, he broke his own legs." Naruto pointed out succinctly, "But I'll be the big man here and apologize."

He turned to Saji and bowed with a sincere smile, "I apologize you were born retarded, Saji-san."

"You!"

"Calm yourself, Saji." Souna's steely reprimand rang out firmly, "And Rias, keep your slaves under control."

The red head averted her eyes and murmured to herself, "Believe me; if I knew how to make him obey, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

Saji's eyes glinted dangerously for a moment before his anger seemed to dissolve entirely, "I truly pity Rias-sama for having two unruly Pawns like you." Reaching out, he clasped Asia's hands, causing her to yelp uncomfortably, "Luckily she has someone as kind and perfect as Asia-san. Asia-san, your perfect beauty outweighs and sooths the scars your two idiot colleagues left on my hear-hurk!"

The sandy haired boy went entirely stiff as he found a golden dining knife under his chin.

"From this position, the knife will go through your mouth and spear your brains in half a second, and trust me, they are blunt, so whatever is left of your brains will dribble out of that hole in your mouth." A cold whisper drifted into his ear, "So unless Sitri-san can heal a scrambled brain, I highly suggest you let Asia go."

Slowly Saji released the girl's almost tiny hands and backed away from the blond's dangerous glare.

A glare that dissipated like the morning sun when Naruto felt someone tugging on his sleeve. Flushing slightly, Asia mouthed a silent, "Thank you." to him and shuddered a little at the memory of Saji's forceful attitude.

His lips curled up in a troubled smile and he ruffled her hair affectionately.

Naruto wasn't entirely sure what to think about his new found protectiveness for the timid Bishop.

"So? I more or less get the gist here, both of you want to go get familiars, but it sounds like there are more of us then there are familiars to go around. What's going to happen now?"

Rias and Souna shared an amused look before turning back to him, the blond didn't even seem to realize it but he was absent mindedly rubbing Asia's forehead with the pad of his thumb while the flush on Asia's cheeks got deeper. Shyly, she nudged back so that he would keep stroking her.

"You are correct, since the new pets only arrive once a month, I was going to ask her for a favor and let me give my precious Servants their familiars first, but she disagreed."

Souna continued for her friend seamlessly, "We just reached the solution to our impasse when you and Akeno-san," She glanced at the Lightning Queen who was glowering to herself in a corner, "….arrived."

"And that solution is?"

Souna blinked. The blond didn't even seem to notice that Koneko had basically bumped Asia out of the way and the two of them were now having a small fight for the right to get Naruto's head scratching. He simply bopped them both on the head with a firm look and placed one on each knee.

He had two hands after all.

It also appeared that his toes were equally as skillful at stroking if Koneko's little white kitten's happy purrs were any indication.

"A Rating Game." Rias supplied helpfully, already used to seeing this happen.

"And I agreed." Souna offered with somewhat more understated enthusiasm, "Ordinarily, the two of us would not be allowed to have a Rating Game on our own, but now that Rias has experienced her first time in one, even if it was a practice one, she is technically allowed to start her own Match, and I must admit that I am quite interested in trying it out myself."

"Of course, we don't need to let our guardians know about this right?"

"No, no we don't." Souna agreed with a conspiratorial wink, "However, since only our new members are the ones with something at stake, why don't we let them have the duel amongst themselves? The winners get the privilege of gaining their familiars first."

The light in Rias' eyes dimmed slightly, "Oh… well I don't see why not. An unofficial half Match would certainly be easier to excuse then a full one at any rate."

"Done then." The raven haired Heir to the House of Sitri declared with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Very well, for the sake of fairness, the Match shall be held in three hours."

"Wait, wait, three hours?" Naruto furrowed his brows, there was something off about how easily the two of them had reached an agreement, like they had discussed this before hand, "Can't we have uh…. Ten days?"

"No."

"…. 1 day?"

"Do you intend to say that you can't handle a Match?"

"Yes." Naruto immediately stated without any regard for his pride, "I am a wimp that needs time to prepare. Now can I have one day?"

"No. the match will be in three hours once we have finished setting a neutral stage up." The light in her eyes glinted at the scowling blond, "This way, no one will have any advantage, which is another of way of me saying, no Naruto, you don't get to booby trap the stage to hell and back because the test will be one of pure ability."

As the contestants left the room, including one stormy faced Uzumaki, Souna approached Rias with a puzzled expression, "Are you sure this is alright? I can't imagine Naruto-san taking very kindly to being tested."

"I'll apologize later. For now, I'm more curious about his abilities." Rias shrugged as she clarified her intentions, "Ever since the time he displayed his abilities in the Rating Match, his power levels have dropped to near nonexistent levels once more, which is stopping him from learning anything more powerful than the weak _Small Fireball_ spell and the _Mesmer_. He can't even fly yet…"

Souna's eyebrows rose slightly, "Those three spells are the absolute basic of all Devil spells and he still hasn't perfected them yet?"

Rias sighed in a long suffering manner, "I know what you mean… Not to mention he outright refuses to tell me about the jutsu he CAN use. Even if his current form's base physical abilities are currently slightly above the average, he isn't really that much use when it comes to long range battles unless I can find out if there is some sort of requirement for him to activate that special mode of his. I apologize for dragging you into this, but it seems like unless I throw him off the deep end, he won't budge on his secrecy."

"It's alright," Sitri assured her friend with a calm pat on the shoulder, "I can't say I wasn't interested in being able to join a Match or even witness the rumors of Naruto-san's ability for myself." Sitri smiled wryly, "My father had to put Serafall in chains to stop her from bulldozing her way into the Match to help him when she heard about it. Then we heard that he was the one who had beaten Raiser, and it just made everything all the more puzzling though Nee-chan didn't calm down for a week after that. Still hasn't actually."

"I'll see what I can do," Rias promised, "If it's just one day, I don't mind letting Naruto play with Serafall-sama. I'm sure he won't mind either. Small and innocent things seem to be about the only things that can get a leeway of any kind from him for some reason."

"And as far as I'm concerned, that makes all this worth it."

******End Game******

"Uwoh… is this legendary place called a shopping center?!"

"A-ano, Naruto-san, you've never been to one?" Asia asked curiously.

"Nope." Naruto's eyes gleamed happily, "I've heard it has anything and everything you could ever need though…. I wonder if they have bodies."

The blond girl made a humming noise as she seriously considered the question, "I'm not sure… I didn't see any the first time I came here."

"Asia, did you know that people only have one heart? I want to see if I can buy one more!"

" Issei-san, do you know if they have hearts on sale?"

The brown haired boy stared at his two friends like they were aliens as they turned to him with expectant eyes. He honestly couldn't tell if they were screwing with him or if they were just that insane, "….No…. I'm fairly sure they don't, but I can show you around the real one if you want."

"UWOOOH! ISSEI, YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND!"

Issei's eyebrow twitched as Naruto clung to his leg with a look filled with pure adoration.

This was too much crazy even for him, "Okay….."

"Hai, hai, enough playing around. The two of us picked this place because we knew that none of you would have any inherent advantage here," Rias waved at the huge and strangely empty shopping center behind her, "That being said, we are the ones that have to hold up this dimension, not experienced Devils, so please try not to destroy too many things."

The blond ignored the significant look she shot at him as he curiously looked around.

"Souna's Pawns are on the other side of the building, now I am not allowed to tell or help you with strategies, but try not to lose okay?"

"Hai, Buchou!"

Naruto picked his nose and wiped it on a tree where it stayed, "Look! It's really solid!"

Rias face palmed.

Why did Naruto have to pick today of all days to lose his marbles, or at least, what was left of them?

"Just… just go." She finally said tiredly.

As Rias teleported away, the young blond girl looked at her friends hopefully, "Uhm… could we possibly stay together? We'll be stronger that way right?"

"Yeah of cou-NARUTO IS GONE ALREADY!"

Asia's lips lowered sadly, "Oh…. "

The blond suddenly popped up behind them, "No I wasn't. I was just picking up some stuff."

Issei's eyebrow twitched at the large back pack Naruto was toting.

It was full of all sorts of random stuff, "WHERE THE HELL DID YOU EVEN GET THAT BAG?!"

"Around," The Uzumaki replied vaguely as he detached two frying pans from his bag. He passed the large metal disks to them with a solemn expression, "Use this for protection. They are the best weapons for a novice unitiated in the arts of ass kicking."

Asia accepted her frying pan with an equally grave expression, "I will."

"Aim for the face and if that doesn't work, go for the crotch."

"Hai!"

"The frying pan is like a symbol of conflict. When fighting, use the edge and never miss. When defending use the flat side and never get hurt."

"HAI!"

Issei stared at his frying pan with utter disbelief.

Then he looked at the two nut jobs.

The way she held her frying pan like a weapon combined with her white nun robes to make her look like a house wife going to battle.

"**Is this what it feels like to be the only rational person around?!"** the dark haired boy roared to the Heavens, "**Is this how Buchou feels all the time?!"**

"Why don't you scream louder Issei?" Naruto commented wryly, "I'm sure there are some people on the other side of the Earth that didn't hear you."

"What's wrong Issei-san?" Asia asked curiously when they suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps on the linoleum floor.

"I can hear screaming, over there!"

"You know the plan, we'll split up. Saji, you take Kosuke and go for the pervert. The girls will deal with the idiot since he doesn't hit girls!"

Asia and Issei shared a quick look, "Where's Naruto-san?"

"HE'S GONE AGAIN?!"

"I can hear them clearer! Over there!"

"…. I'M GOING TO DRAGON SHOOT HIS ASS!"

"Issei-san, please be quiet."

To the dark haired boy, it seemed like he had been thrown into an alternate dimension. One where the shy and innocent Asia could reprimand him and he was the only one thinking logically.

He didn't like it.

******End Game******

"What's he **doing**?"

"It looks like he's… shopping."

Two girls hiding in a shadow stared at the blond with a large back pack hum to himself with a stupid, half assed expression as he strolled into a hardware shop.

To anybody who knew him, Naruto in a hardware shop usually equaled '_run away screaming'_. Unfortunately, these two girls who were new Devils and were not aware of that little fact.

That would probably explain why they made the very unwise decision of approaching the blond who standing behind the counter as he basically robbed the shop, "Excuse me…. Do you know you're in a Rating Match at the moment?"

The blond looked up with a very dreamy smile, "Oh, can you come back later? There are so many things I want to take home." He shook a screw driver at them, "Like this!"

"Yeah…. You look like you need one." The one on the left with bright pink hair chortled, "You've got a few screws loose."

The one on the right seemed to be more polite, "I'm sorry for doing this when you aren't paying attention but we have to win this no matter what." She said apologetically, "On the count of three…."

The two of them began casting a fire ball spell when the blond suddenly thrust his face between them as he stared at a shiny wrench locked in a glass case inside the counter, "Oh my God, is that a monkey wrench?!"

Jarred by his sudden move, the two of them inadvertently cancelled their spells when the blond drove the screw driver into the pink haired girl's hand, staking it to the counter, "**AAAAAAAAAAGHHH!"**

The nicer one was about to jump back with a yelp when he jabbed her eyes. Screaming painfully, she dropped to her knees and began furiously rubbing her eyes when Naruto very fluidly grabbed her friend's hair and used her head to break open the case via her face.

That was the day Rias learned that no, Naruto really didn't care what your chromosome pairing was. As long as you were in his way, chances were you were about to have a very bad day. That being said, Naruto might have used a little too much brute force as her face smashed into the counter so hard that it broke in half.

The blond excitedly picked up the big and heavy wrench amidst the pieces of shattered wood. Twirling it, he happily stuck it in his pants as the nice girl slowly got up, rubbing her teary eyes.

"Are you feeling better?" Naruto asked with a concerned expression.

"Ye-yeah."

"Okay."

He poked her eyes again.

Squatting down beside the screaming girl, Naruto happily began chatting, "Did you know? I actually had one before this, but I accidently broke it on Issei's head. That idiot REALLY has a hard head. By the way, can you tell me if you can see again?"

"Ju-Just a little…"

"Okay."

He jabbed her eyes again.

"OH KAMI, MY EYES! JUST KILL ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH AND BE DONE WITH IT!"

For such a nice, polite looking girl, she could really curse.

"Bu-but…" Naruto looked so sad that his bright spiky hair wilted, "I just wanted to talk… Nobody else cares about my wrenches…"

"I DON'T EITHER!"

Naruto pouted, "Okay…."

His two fingers came up again and the white haired girl instinctively threw up her hands to protect her eyes when Naruto simply sucker punched her in the gut before breaking her jaw with his shiny new monkey wrench.

Whistling a pointless tune to himself, Naruto left the destroyed shop when he had to dive forward to avoid getting decapitated. Rolling on to his back, he deftly caught the downward stroke of a long katana with a frying pan before pushing her back with his superior strength.

Taking advantage of the reprieve to roll away from his attacker, Naruto blinked dumbly at the long haired woman with a severe expression, "It seems like you took good care of my juniors. My name is Shinra Tsubaki, and I'm here to return the favor."

"Weren't you the Vice president or something?" The blond on the floor asked with a tilt of the head.

She hesitated, "I-I'm new!"

"Not a very good liar are you? No wonder your boobs are so small."

"What the hell does that have to do with my chest?!"

"Nothing," Naruto calmly replied as he got up and dusted off his pants, "I just wanted to piss you off so I have enough time to get my ultra secret skill ready."

Her sword came up as Tsubaki tensed.

"Naruto no Jutsu: RUN AWAY!"

The blond quickly got up and scurried away from the stunned swordswoman, "STOP RUNNING YOU RAT!" She tried to chase him but immediately stepped on a thumbtack on her first step, "**GYAAAOWWWW**!"

Hissing painfully, Tsubaki cursed as she had to carefully hobble through the sea of thumbtacks littering the ground.

Ultra secret skill her stinking left foot.

Rounding the corner that Naruto had disappeared behind, she saw a fist rocketing towards her face from the blind spot, "**USAGI PAAWWNNCH!"**

Swiftly bringing her sword up to sever that hand, Tsubaki suddenly lost her balance as Naruto drove a knee into her stomach instead, driving out the air in her lungs.

Gasping for air, Tsubaki swiftly sliced at the blond but he simply danced out of range before darting back in with another, **"USAGI PAAAWWNNCH!"**

Anticipating his sucker punch to the gut, the long haired girl immediately tried to awkwardly block his knee without dropping her katana.

She got her eyes jabbed instead.

Rolling on the floor in a completely inelegant manner, Kuou Academy's Vice President screeched at the idiot's completely unsportsmans like behavior, "Don't you have ANY honor at all?! Fight like a real warrior!"

The blond's inane giggling died in his throat.

**Play ****Hataraku Maou OST – The Strength of a Hero and a Devil**

Without even acknowledging her with a look, he managed to silently slip away into the shadows despite his overly stuffed backpack filled with tools.

Holding one hand to her aching gut, Tsubaki followed, albeit at a more careful pace, and a triumphant expression at finally being able to sting a nerve with the insane blond. Carefully glancing around a corner, she saw a fleeting image of the blond's back darting into a dark room. Racking her memory of the shopping center, a grin slowly spread on her lips.

Shuffling her way to the door to make as little noise as possible, Tsubaki slipped in to the dark storeroom, slamming the door shut behind her to make sure that he would have nowhere left to run.

Easily, her eyes began adjusting to the darkness, "You have nowhere left to go and no more tricks, Uzumaki-san. You might as well come out now."

"_Wrong. I don't NEED to run_."

Several red cans with its top shorn off slowly rolled out of the shadows and barely a split second later, Tsubaki's katana flashed, sending a wave of vacuum in that direction. Peering into the darkness, her traditionally Japanese good looks twisted in anger as she realized she had cut nothing but cardboard.

One by one, empty cans began rolling out of the darkness until the floor was littered with a mountain of red cyclinders.

"_My honor and yours are two very different concepts, Shinra-san. Are you sure you want to see it? You might get scared." _

Tsubaki snorted and she smirked at the blond sitting on top of a mountain of cardboard with his back to a large refrigerator. It was obvious that he had finally run out of toys to play with now that he showed himself, "And why should I be scared?"

"_I believe the saying goes; ask, and you shall be given_."

A golden blade flashed in the darkness but Tsubaki made no move to avoid it since it would miss her anyway, allowing the orihalcum dining knife to bury itself in a red fire extinguisher located behind the door to her left, "You missed." She said sarcastically, "Or should I take that as a sign of surrender?"

Naruto cocked his head with a coldly amused smile.

"_I never miss."_

Another golden blade flashed but this one skidded against the linoleum floor, generating sparks.

Tsubaki's dark eyes widened in horror as she realized what was going to happen a second too late.

In that same moment, she realized that letting the insane blond play around meant you would only be somewhat unlucky.

Annoying him on the other hand, meant you were stupid and about to be hit by what felt like ten dump trucks.

The only reason she wasn't immediately killed by the ensuing explosion was because the leaking extinguisher behind her smothered the flames on her body. Then again, it didn't really make much of a difference to Tsubaki considering her body was thrown against the wall like a rag doll with enough force to blow through it like wet paper.

On the other side of the shopping center, a blond calmly climbed out of a smoking refrigerator and wiped away the black smudge on his cheeks with a rather careless flick of the wrist.

"You defeated Tsubaki-sama huh? Even though I don't like you, and I respect her, I knew that you would win."

Naruto sucked in a breath and sighed as Saji walked out of the shadows with his arms folded.

"It's just one after another with you guys isn't it? And weren't you supposed to be dealing with Issei?"

The sandy haired boy shrugged, "I wanted to take care of you myself. I only went along with the plan because I needed the promotion to Queen. Kosuke is more than enough to take care of him."

"Take care of me? Just in case it wasn't clear, I'm straight."

"That has nothing to do with it! I just wanted to know why Sitri-sama is so interested in you when you don't even have a Sacred Gear! Not only that, I heard that you can't even fly yet, why does she respect you so much?"

"Before I answer that question, I actually have one for you," Naruto spoke slowly as if to a special needs child "Why in the world does everyone seem to think having a Sacred Gear is a qualifier of power? Do you people NOT have brains to use or something that you have to depend on brute power to feel as if you exist?"

"This isn't about Sacred Gears or anything. You are weak! You are exactly like I was; a pathetic delinquent before I was picked up by Sitri-sama because I have Vritra."

Naruto quirked one eyebrow at the increasingly agitated boy, "It was like a dream come true for me, I felt like one of those harem protagonists that suddenly got lucky. It took me realizing that I have Vritra and desperately learning spells before she would even acknowledge that I existed. Yet she is more interested in you than she is in me despite everything I have done! What's the difference between us that she didn't even look at me before I realized I had something as special Draconic Sacred Gear?"

"Uh…. You're totally better off asking Issei about this," The blond waved him off with an indifferent expression and he began walking away, "Honestly though? I can sort of understand what you mean. Even if I don't care why Souna-san is interested in me, if I hadn't met Rias I'd probably still be working away at a ramen store before going to a 9 to 5 job. I just got lucky when I helped Issei out. Incidentally, you can have her; one privileged princess is trouble enough."

Saji ran after the blond but he had disappeared.

"I guess you could really call it on the roll of a dice though. Look at Issei, why was he lucky enough to get a Dragon instead of his two friends. Both of them are just as honest, if you can call it that, as him. What's the difference? I don't know. Maybe some God somewhere thought it would be funnier." Saji whipped around and saw the blond lazily climbing a stair case on the opposite side of the room, "But you want to know what I DO know?"

Blinking for one stunned moment, his legs pumped and he chased Naruto up the flight of stairs before bursting out of the door to reach an empty landing. Looking around wildly, he heard the blond's voice again.

"**Do I have an all powerful, deity killing Sacred Gear? No, no I don't." **

The sandy haired boy whipped around to see the blond's back turning a corner. Cursing, Saji wondered how the blond was keeping ahead of him despite his leisurely pace. As he reached the corner, the blond's voice filtered down from where he was sitting, on the railings at the very top of the stairs.

"**Can I use world destroying magic to blow all my enemies to kingdom come? No, no I don't."**

Desperately, Saji began following him up the stairs. Panting laboriously at climbing two flight of stairs in such short order, the second year student kicked open the only door at the top of the stairs and jumped through it. His sneakers skidded with a loud squeak as he found himself on top of the roof.

The empty roof. Wildly, he looked around, even checking behind the door, and above.

But there was no one.

There was no one there, no one but a wiry bunch of tumbleweed being blown around by the strong winds. Knowing the blond's preference for trickery, Saji carefully inched towards the edge of the roof and peered over it just in case the blond was waiting for him over the ledge.

Unfortunately for Saji, he didn't see the tumbleweed turning back into a lazy looking Naruto.

"**Can I still be utterly awesome even without all those super powerful Sacred Gears or spells?"**

Naruto dropkicked Saji between the legs, right off the roof.

As he was falling, the messy haired boy fought through the sheer pain of two squished testicles and righted himself with some trouble.

Black wings suddenly unfurled and Saji roared defiantly, "Yes! If you think you can get me that way agai-"

Saji's triumphant crow was cut short by a spinning monkey wrench that nailed him square in the family jewels.

His world exploded into blinding colors. Again.

Back on the roof, a slouching figure lazily stuffed his hands in his pockets and peered down at the black feathery bundle on its way down to a meeting with the concrete floor with a whimsical grin.

"Why yes, I do believe I can."

******End Game******

**End Chapter 5**

Before you start complaining about why Kiba is talking about something else unconnected with Naruto's memory, I'd just like to point out that that was indeed what happened. The readers got the benefit of reading Naruto's memory but Kiba only heard what Naruto was actually saying and sort of read between the lines. The more astute of my readers will probably notice it doesn't really fit but it was either force it in, or leave all of you hanging permanently. Whether that's a good thing, or a bad thing, I'll leave it to your interpretation


	6. Determination and Creativity

**End Game: Ver R Chapter 6**

**Determination and Creativity**

**Disclaimer : Disclaimer : I don't own anything. Don't own Highschool Dragons of Dragons or Naruto. I do own the concepts and plots that I introduced into the story. Also, because of the connection between Highschool Dxd and multiple Relions and Myths, I am sorry if I have accidentally written something wrong and offended someone's belief/faith etc. I just did some basic research and filled the holes in by myself so it is only natural if I get something wrong.**

The last chapter didn't do very well, probably because there was some hiccups in it's uploading. But here you go, as promised End Game Version R Chapter 6. Enjoy all 16000 words of it guys, each one was lovingly written in the span of one night.

******Sound track List******

Asian Kung Fu Generation – Kaigan Doori

NICO Touches the Walls – Diver

Rascal Flatts – What Hurts the Most

Hataraku Maou OST –The Strength of a Hero and a Devil

Iwasaki Taku – Libera Me From Hell

******End Game******

**Play Asian Kung Fu Generation – Kaigan Doori**

Rias and Souna stared at each other.

Then they nodded slowly.

"Well, the outcome is clear, yes?"

Souna sighed, "Well, a month won't be that long. It should take about that long for them to mentally heal anyway…."

"Very well then, I declare that The Rating Game has ended in favor of Rias Gremory." The Gremory intoned formally.

As one, all the women around the table hit the table with their foreheads and groaned tiredly.

Her lifeless bluish green eyes peered out from inside a curtain of long red hair like a ghost, "Standing up with my hands in their air for so long really hurts my shoulders…"

There was a series of agreeing grunts from around the table.

Koneko's eyebrow twitched at long row of fleshy boobs that smacked on the table at the same time. There was no way they could be **that** tired from just holding up their hands. Glancing downwards, she cupped her somewhat smaller ones before retreating to sulk in a corner.

Across from Rias, the long pile of black hair that was Souna stirred tiredly, "And we didn't even get to see anything special, all we saw was Issei-san getting beaten up because he couldn't get motivated against another guy before getting healed by Asia-san. Again and again until Asia-san finally got fed up of it and bonked Kosuke-san with a frying pan."

Rias half sobbed, half laughed with despair, "You forgot to add Naruto cackling like a mad man as he robbed the whole place blind."

Akeno snorted with some disgust, "You can't even call it a fight, because to me he looked like he simply stumbled over four obstacles before he continued to loot the place."

"The one time he DID get serious, he did it where we couldn't see anything other than the result, and by result, I mean that explosion." Souna grunted, "I'm going to have to do something nice for Tsubaki as an apology. Getting blown through a wall like that could not have been pleasant."

Rias threw up her hands in frustration, "Fuugaaah! I'm running out of ideas to motivate him and I haven't even got anything substantial yet!"

The dark haired Lightning Queen laughed wryly as Rias collapsed into a disheveled lump again, "If you keep this up, you're going to be a calculative genius on the level of your brother because of the training you get from spending all your time trying to think up ways to make him move."

The red haired girl moaned into her cleavage, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he's doing this on purpose because it amuses him to see me so desperately trying to get him to obey."

"Come to think of it, did anyone remember to tell him that he's wasting his time?" Souna commented blandly, "Everything he looted is going to disappear in a bit anyway."

The room went silent as Rias and Akeno stared at each other.

With an intense expression, the two of them began duking it out for the honor of delivering this news to the crazy blond, mostly so they could watch his face crumple in despair.

Sort of as compensation for sending them on a wild goose chase.

An intense aura of energy surrounded them as they glared at each other.

"ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!"

"…."

A heavenly smile made its way to the red haired Devil's face, "Fufufufu, it's my victory, Akeno. Maybe some other time no? Come on Koneko-chan, let's go congratulate Naruto," There was a pause before she added maliciously, "Then rip it out of his hands with some bad news."

Akeno stared at her rock and huffed in resignation as Rias bustled out of them room with a re-energized grin, "Whatever, there'll be plenty of chances to see him in despair anyway. Hehehehe…."

Souna and her peerage edged away from the dangerously dark aura emanating from the Lightning Queen as she contemplated ways to make a certain someone suffer.

"A-Akeno-san… I understand wanting to punish him, but don't you think that making him run around the school naked with nothing but a doggy collar is going a little too far?"

"Huh? I wasn't thinking about something so crude, ohohoh."

"I…see…"All of them averted their eyes and the same thought in their heads, '_We can totally see what you're planning with that dark aura around you!'_

"Besides, he deserves it, that annoying, useless boy who won't react like he should. Hehehe… I'll let him pretend to be noble and proud for now… it'll just make breaking that pride that much more delicious."

"Useless?" Souna frowned faintly, "What do you mean useless? Even if he didn't use any spells or fight the way a Devil would have been expected to, I'd say he did pretty well against Ruruko, Momo, Saji and Tsubaki. Too well in fact."

"He was just creative enough to use his surroundings." Akeno waved it off dismissively, "Aside from that, he isn't someone you could consider strong right?"

"I see….." Souna adjusted her glasses so that Akeno couldn't see the gleam in her eyes, "Akeno-san, have you ever heard this story? ...Once there were two highly respected mathematicians in the World who were waiting for a third to join them in discussing a new problem. However, as they were waiting, the lights went out. While they were sitting in the dark because they didn't know to fix the light, someone arrived. Thinking it was the third mathematician; they asked him about the equation and were awed by the third man's knowledgeable answer."

Souna raised her eyes to meet the black haired Lightning Queen, "However, when the lights finally came on, they were shocked to discover that the person they had thought to be a renowned mathematician was actually nothing but a simple electrician here to fix the lights. Immediately, they dismissed the answer he had given them because he was nothing but a simple electrician despite having been praising it mere moments before. Don't you find that kind of attitude rather familiar?"

"Are you saying that I am ignorant?" Akeno asked stiffly.

"Not exactly, just colored by your preconceptions."

"But he's annoying! And he won't do as he is meant to or even listen to me!"

"In other words," Souna began carefully; fully aware that one half of Kuou Academy consisted of unrepentant perverts for some strange reason, though Issei was in a class of his own, "He intrigues you exactly because he **won't **do what every other boy will?" She furrowed her brows, "Not everyone can fit into molds, Akeno-san. Especially not when this one at least seems to respect you even if he doesn't do it openly."

Akeno's long ponytail flicked with disdain, "Respect me? What in the world are you talking about, Sitri-sama? He doesn't know how to respect ANYBODY."

Souna blinked slowly, "You mean you didn't realize?"

"Realize WHAT?!"

"During the tennis match. You lost because Naruto-san wasn't playing right?"

"Will you get to the point?" Akeno snapped irritably.

"The match was in an open court," The Student Council President replied stiffly, "and students were surrounding you on all sides. I'm not sure if you chose a skirt that short on purpose, but Naruto-san was very clearly trying to stop a horde of perverts from trying to take pictures of your underwear from behind."

She stood up and patted down her dress with a severe expression, "I thought you would at least be somewhat more observant and aware than this, but it looks like I was mistaken if someone you consider a random stranger has more respect for your own virtue than you do yourself."

"Well I guess I shouldn't be speaking, lots of us Devils don't really care about little things like modesty anyway, but it was still heartwarming to see him try even if it was doubly wasted on you."

Akeno sat alone in that room, stiff as a plank and trying to reconcile what she had just heard until Rias came to get her.

******End Game******

A few minutes earlier.

Rias hummed happily as she strode to the park where her cute little Pawns and Bishop was waiting with Koneko calmly following behind her. Inside, she was wondering what kind of wonderful and noble familiars her servants would attract to themselves when Koneko tugged at her sleeve, "… Trouble."

"Hmmm?" Cocking her head at the little girl's words, she followed Koneko's gaze and felt herself bristle at the indignity.

Sitting alone on a bench in the park, a blank faced Naruto was surrounded by a gang of boys that wore the Kuou Academy.

"Yo, Uzumaki-chan," One of them said with a barely hidden jeer, "Haven't seen you around in class lately. You must be busy with Gremory huh?"

The blond stared at them with a slack gaze, looking every bit the complete simpleton.

"Hahah, look at this idiot, he doesn't' even understand his luck. What a complete waste."

"Maa, don't be so hard on them, he's Japanese is bad you know." The first one spoke sarcastically, "Why don't we help him learn about Japanese culture?" rummaging in his pocket, he pulled out something that he offered to the dumb looking blond boy, "Uzumaki-chan, which one do you want?"

Dumbly, Naruto nodded and picked out the only coin amongst the thousand yen notes, "Arigatouzaimsu…"

The gang laughed at his butchered Japanese accent, "What an idiot, he probably picked out the coin because it was shiny."

Wiping away some tears of laughter, the apparent leader stuffed his notes back into his pocket, "Thanks for the laugh, you waste of space. See you in class yeah?"

Frowning, Rias and Koneko approached the blond, "Naruto!" the furious red head called out sternly.

The blond glanced at her with a bored look as he palmed the coin and slipped it into his pocket.

"Why didn't you fight back or something?" The bristling girl asked flatly, "Weren't you embarrassed to be laughed at like that?"

"Why would I want to do that for?" Naruto replied calmly as he dropped the idiotic slack jawed expression.

"Don't you have ANY dignity?"

Naruto shrugged, "I've never seen any point in it. Plus I'm sort of used it anyway, happened all the time where I came from."

"Even if you don't, I do. I won't stand for this, those garbage will pay -" Rias yelped as the boy calmly caught her arm before she storm away to extract retribution from the gang of boys and pulled her down on to the bench.

Rias winced a little at the steel grip on her arm that stopped her from moving away while the blond frowned at her, "What's wrong?"

"Just a little shoulder ache." Rias mumbled with a flush in her cheeks at being weak in front of him.

"Hmmm…." The blond firmly turned her back to him and he ran one hand down her back. Rias suppressed a slightly shiver as his fingers traced her spine, "You're knotted pretty badly. Relax for a moment."

"Relax? Huh…" Rias felt her body go slack as he pressed _SOMETHING _on her back, "Oooh…. Nooo…"

"Hmmm…. Knots." Behind her, the blond continued pressing his thumb into her back with the same absent minded concentration he had when he was in the presence of something small and cute, "My grandmother always had the same problem you did, and if I didn't massage her back for her….." He began twitching as if remembering something unpleasant, "She'd punch me to kingdom come."

A sweat drop ran down Rias' forehead.

The blond had a complex about people's aching backs.

Good to know.

On the other hand, she wasn't entirely sure what to feel about the blond apparently being more interested in her back than **her**, skilful fingers be damned.

The preoccupied blond hummed in a half assed manner as he continued pressing pressure points on her back. Then slowly, his fingers moved up her back until he was firmly massaging her scalp with an utterly focused expression, causing Rias's eyes to roll up into her skull.

Oh God. Forget Serafall, she was never letting Naruto out of sight ever again.

Wait.

It was happening again, every time he got his hands on her back, her argument instantly went to pieces.

"Staahhp. I mean, **STOP!"** Mustering all her will, she shrugged the blond's hands away, "Stop trying to change the subject! They stepped all over you and you didn't fight back!" her eye twitched violently, already missing his fingers, "And stay away from my back! Or at least until we're done arguing! Then go right back!"

Naruto shrugged, "I just like to point out that if they had taken to using violence, you know that I would have settled the problem right then and there. But if it was something little like bending down and pretending to be an idiot then there's no point in fighting back. No matter how satisfying it may be to lash out like that, it'll just bring more trouble when their parents and the authorities come into the picture over something as small as that. What are you going to do then, trample on them as well just because you have the power as a Devil? Just because you **can** do it, doesn't make it the right thing to do."

"But…"

Seeing Rias' discontented pout, Naruto cracked a half smile as he pulled her back to him, "If it makes you feel better, no matter how it looked like to them, I know I was the one who came out the winner. They get to laugh and prove how juvenile they were while I get 500 yen every time that happens. It's not my problem if they don't know how it feels to go hungry for weeks on an end until it happens."

The red haired princess sighed in resignation, "When you put it that way, it makes me feel like I was just another one of those immature bullies."

Leaning back into him, she nuzzled his neck with a soft breath, "Why can't you be like this all the time? It would make things so much easier for me."

"What fun would that be?" Naruto replied with a humorous smirk, "Besides, you seem to enjoy thinking up ways to persuade me."

Rias felt her breath hitch a little, "So… all this time you were just screwing around and pretending not to care… it was because you wanted me to smile?"

"No. I lied. I do it because it's hilarious."

Rias felt her temple twitch at the cackling blond.

"By the way, Naruto," She bit out with a terribly sweet smile, "Remember that truck load of stuff you pilfered from the field?"

The blond who was laughing so hard he had to stuff a fist into his mouth to stop it, glanced at her strangely, "Yeah, what about them?"

"They'll disappear in two hours."

All the humor went out of his face, "….. Disappear as in?"

"As in gone forever. Poof. Nada."

"**MY WRENCH!" **

Rias breathed in deeply and let out a sigh of contentment as she savored her victory.

"What's wrong with him Buchou?"

Briefly gazing backwards, she noticed Issei and Asia standing there with three cans of cold drinks as they watched the blond writhe on the ground, crying tears of blood.

"Nothing," Rias answered simply, "He just learnt that just because I value him as a Pawn, I am not to be trifled with."

******End Game******

Issei shivered a little as he gazed around the clearing they were in.

Surrounding their little group on all sides was a dark and gloomy forest. Soggy grey mist hung in the air as a sluggish breeze caused the tall and twisted trees to shake and rustle at random intervals, making it look as if the plant life were actively trying to claw at them.

A small weight at his side told him that Asia was cowering by his side as she clung to his uniform, "I-Is this the place?"

"Fufufu, don't worry, Asia-chan. It just looks scary, but if we stay within limits, nothing in here will hurt us."

"Akeno is right," Rias explained calmly. The two of them were doing a very good job of ignoring the yellow lump in a corner with a cloud of gloom over its head, "We're waiting for Zatouji-san, the Familiar Master. He is the one who prepares a wide selection of familiars for new Devils and helps us choose but we can only find him here once a month on a full moon."

Issei hesitated and nervously looked around the clearing again, "Can't he do it, you know, somewhere nicer?"

"AHAHAHA! How little you know boy!" A voice blared over the forest so loudly that it roused even Naruto.

"Ah. Another suspicious idiot showed up. Is it a racial trait or are you Devils just inherently unable to do anything in a normal way?" Naruto commented blandly as a man who looked far too old to be climbing trees, or wearing baggy shorts that showed off his hairy legs for that matter, appeared at the top of the tree, ranting away about how this forest was filled with a suitable energy and atmosphere for creating familiars.

"Now, what kind of pets do you want?!" The strange old man puffed out his chest proudly, "With me here, you can get any familiar that you want!"

Issei's eyes gleamed with anticipation, "Is there any beautiful female ones?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," The old man who forgot to grow up waggled his finger at the boy, "Don't you know boy, a familiar is an important part of your life, its presence can halve or double your abilities so the most important thing is find one that's brave or strong!"

"But.…" Asia piped up with large disappointed eyes, "But I wanted something cute…"

"Ohoho, anything for someone as cute as you!" he suddenly declared with a flush in his cheeks.

"Weren't you just saying something about brave and strong?" Issei spluttered.

"Ah. Another pervert that cannot be saved."

"hat's uh.. situational. Yes. situational. Hahaha!" Every body sweat dropped at the laughing man as he led them to a clear and pure looking pool, "If you want something cute, the best kind are water sprites, and the best place to find Undines are in this lake here!"

"Undine? You mean those beautiful water nymphs? The type of women that Kings always want in their harem? Smooth flowing locks, gentle motherly touch and great boobs!?"

.Ohoho!" the old man giggled alongside the brown haired boy, "You sure know your familiars don't you boy? "

"…You two are drooling." Koneko pointed out with a look of distaste.

Wiping away the drool from his chin, Issei laughed nervously, "So-sorry."

Their conversation was silenced as an unearthly light began to emanate from deep inside the pool while something slowly rose out from its depths.

Issei gasped as the Undine emerged.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Zatouji mumbled proudly.

The dark haired boy retched as he felt bile rising in his throat, "Beautiful?! What part of that is beautiful?! That's 100% obviously a SUPER MUSCLY BODYBUILDER IN A PINK SWIMSUIT!"

"It's cute isn't it, Ojou-chan?" Zatouji winked at the pale nun, "And it's a water sprite too, you can never go wrong with those since they specialize in healing and defensive spells."

The _Undine _flexed its bulging muscles proudly.

"Eeep."

"Forget defensive spells, no matter how I look at it, one punch from those muscles and you're dead anyway!"

Beside Issei, the other blond smiled dreamily, "Ah Mil-tan, long time no see. What did you do to your hair? It looks nice in gold ringlets. Much better than black pigtails."

"Look at Naruto-senpai, he's suffered so much psychological damage he doesn't know what he's talking about anymore!" Issei began shaking blond and forced open his blue eyes, "Wake up Naruto-Senpai and look properly, even if they look like each other, Mil-tan wears a sailor suit, not swimsuits!"

"That's not the problem here is it?" Rias muttered with a vaguely amused expression.

The moment his eyes landed on the Undine, the blond started frothing at the mouth.

******End Game******

"That was dangerous…" Naruto huffed and panted on all fours after they had run away, "I think I saw my parents on the other side of the river…. Was my dad always that muscled?" Naruto went blue again and clamped his hands over his mouth, "Urp…. Super bulging muscles are bad, bad, bad."

"But..." Asia, ever the nice and kindly girl who could find the good in any given situation, spoke up hesitantly, "she had pure eyes, I'm sure that she had a beautiful heart as well."

"Please don't call that thing a _she." _Issei shuddered, "We barely got away in time. Any later and Naruto-senpai would have died."

The blond was too tired to even kick him, "It was your damn fault, you were the one that made me see that thing! And why weren't you affected at all?!"

"I'm already used to super muscly women with strange taste in fashion, hahaha…." Mid laugh, Issei began sobbing into the ground as he realized how sad his life was.

"Uwah... he looks so pitiful I don't have the heart to do something to him."

Groaning, Naruto rolled his way under a tree so that he could prop himself up weakly. His eyes closed and he tried to gather his wits again when he felt Koneko's familiar weight resting on his lap. Instinctively, he ran one hand through her soft hair and began stroking the little girl.

This was what saved the two of them when something green, viscous and pretty bad smelling began falling out of the sky.

"Ooh, it's a Slime!" the old red headed man declared happily, "They're pretty useless things, but underestimate them you know."

The Rias, Akeno and Asia began yelping and calling for help as the green rain attached themselves to their bodies and restricting their movements like liquid fly paper. The thick acid green liquid then began leaking into little crevices like their armpits, or between their legs or in between their cleavage as if it had a mind of its own.

A perverted mind, Naruto observed dryly as the stinky green liquid began causing their clothes to dissolve like cotton candy.

Ahhn…" Akeno could help but moan as she felt something brushing her most sacred place. Beside her, Rias couldn't stop wriggling as she felt the offensive liquid cupping her breasts and a strange vacuum began twisting her nipples.

Every bit of green stuff that had tried to get near the small girl on the blond's lap instantly and immediately encountered a quick death via vicious fork stabs.

"Issei! Naruto! HELP!"

Issei was drooling a river as his eyes feasted on the white and creamy skin of their exposed bodies, "I want to help, but I don't want to help! Because… because…. I'VE DECIDED ON MY FAMILIAR!"

"Ah. He forgot to hide his true desires mid sentence."

"Why?!"

"Sometimes, men have to be men Buchou!"

"GAAH!" Rias immediately realized that was no use; Issei was too incapacitated by his perverted desires to be of any help, "NARUTO DO SOMETHING!"

"I don't wanna. This is funny." Naruto blandly commented with a grin as the three girls began falling around because of the thick green liquid that was binding their limbs and eating their underwear away.

Koneko poked his tummy with an upset pout, "…Help them."

"….Fine, fine. Oi, Issei, Zatouji," Naruto called out as he beckoned the two drooling males, "Come over here."

With a mighty show of determination, the two idiots tore their eyes away from what was basically a strip show, as their luscious skin was slowly and teasingly revealed bit by bit by that green Slime, "Wh-what is it?"

"Don't worry, you just have to stand here," Gripping their elbows, he made them face the three squirming girls, "OI SLIME, LOOK HERE, THERE'S A LOT OF BEAUTIFUL GIRLS HERE!"

The green wobbly ooze seemed to stiffen and if it had eyes, it would have looked in his direction.

Making sure Koneko's eyes were closed, Naruto grabbed Zatouji and Issei's pants before he ripped them off in one smooth move.

"Iyaan~" the two of them quickly crossed their legs in embarrassment but it was enough.

The green ooze seemed to wobble, turning a curious shade of bluish white before the entire mess shrunk down into a tiny shred of weak, shivering goo.

Poking it with a toe, the blond grinned as Issei wailed in despair, "What's the matter? Too hairy to swallow? It's alright; non performance is a common issue after all."

He heard someone coughing behind him, glancing around, he quirked one eyebrow at Akeno and Rias. Both of them were holding one hand up to their breasts to preserve whatever was left of their modesty as they glowered at the little shivering piece of goo, "If you're done cracking jokes at that thing, hand it over here so I can destroy it." Rias said with a convincingly calm tone.

"NOOOOOO!"

Rias' twisted expression was lit up by the crackling red blaze in the palm of her hand, "Time to die!"

Blasting it with a bolt of lightning powerful enough to shatter rock, she let out an exasperated breath.

"This is taking too long. We should hurry up and-" She turned around, "FUGAAAH!"

Naruto was already gone.

Probably because it wasn't funny anymore.

Akeno gave the pantless old man a troubled look, "We're fine in this part of the forest, but what if he goes too deep? Will he be alright?"

She was so focused on the bottomless man's incoming answer that she was unaware of Rias' surprised look, "This forest is older that the Four Great Satans," The Red headed familiar master shook his head helplessly, "I have no idea what could be resting in the depths of this place. But he should be alright though; the really REALLY bad parts are too deep to be reached in a day or two. At most we'll find him hungry and wandering the outskirts."

Akeno didn't seem to convinced by the man's assuring tone, "Buchou, we have to go stop him before he does anything stupid!"

"It's okay Akeno," The red headed princess remarked offhandedly, "He'll be fine and he has Koneko with him. For now, we'll focus on getting Asia and Issei their familiars too."

Akeno nodded slowly and wondered why she was so confident.

******End Game******

**Play NICO Touches the Walls – Diver**

A figure silently sailed over the thick forest top, lightly touching down on a tree branch before he leapt again. His movements were almost beautiful in their simplicity as he literally skated through the night sky.

"Are you alright?"

"Mmmm." The small girl clinging to his back with an exhilarated smile rubbed her nose against his neck, "… Faster!"

Naruto laughed freely, "As you wish."

The whooping blond surged faster and higher, feeling freer than he had in a long time. When he had first come to this place, the first thing that had struck him was the lack of trees. There was nowhere to jump and no high places to feel the breeze. At the apex of his greatest leap yet, the blond hung in mid air with Koneko's arm around his neck and glanced around for the tallest tree in the whole forest.

Swiftly locating the tall black shadow that towered above every other tree, the blond whooped one more time as they fell to the earth. Behind him, Koneko screamed like she was on a roller coaster.

Grabbing a piece of rotten bark mid fall, Naruto braced it against his feet and used it like a skateboard to skid all the way down the tree. Roaring happily, he leaned forward and let the skateboard take him to the roots of the tree where there was a natural bowl like formation that sent them into the air again with even more speed.

The two whooping children yelled and screamed to their hearts content as they sped past the forest, Naruto pushing his agility and strength to his heart's content, until they came to a large sea like expanse of clear water.

Sharing one look, the blond winked once before he stepped onto the water.

Koneko closed her eyes, fully expecting the blond to sink, so she was understandably a little surprised when the blond actually began skating on top of water, throwing up white waves in his wake like an agile speedboat.

She sucked in a cold breath filled with misty spray, "….Chakra…"

The blond blinked and glanced over his shoulder, "You know what I'm using?" He asked with a mildly surprised expression.

"I have…. Seen it before." Koneko replied slowly, not meeting his eyes, "Then… The Rating Match…. That was Sage Mode?"

"Heh…. So there are people in this world who can use it too." Naruto smiled faintly, so he was right. It did somewhat explain why the older Gremory was so calm; unlike his sister who had demanded some answers, he had some experience with it.

It also confirmed his suspicions that his weakness wasn't just because of the Shinigami alone, though whether the Chakra Koneko was referring to and the one he used was one and the same remained to be seen.

"… You didn't go insane while using it?" she asked with a hushed and uncertain whisper.

"What? Sage Mode? That happens here?"

"…. Users have to absorb natural energy from the world," Her voice cracked a little to the blond's curiosity, "but with that, comes the World's malice…. Most people go insane from it."

"Hmm… how interesting." Naruto murmured curiously, so it appeared that there were at least some marginal differences. Seeing her worried look, he reached back to pat her head soothingly, "In order to go insane, I kinda have to be sane in the first place. So you don't have to worry about me going anywhere alright?"

The small girl didn't answer, choosing to bury her face in his shoulder instead and hug him tighter. When she had first felt him using Sage Mode, becoming one with the world, no matter how much it repulsed her because of her past, she had felt a familiar all encompassing warmth and solidarity radiating from the field. Even from so far away, she had felt it surrounding her, surging inside her.

Almost like how a father would have hugged her if she had one.

Coming to a stop, blond smoothed over the transition between water and land with a hop and skip, causing Koneko to giggle at his exaggeratedly proud expression. Clambering higher up his broad back, Koneko rested her chin on the top of his head, "Where are we going?"

Naruto shook his head a little, tickling her with his long spiky hair and smiled as she giggled, "Over there I guess. Didn't really have any where in mind," He pointed to the sky scraping tree, "I didn't want to just sit around and watch Issei and Asia get their familiar."

"…What about yours?"

Shrugging, the blond continued walking along a empty path lined with dead, twisted skeleton trees that looked like no one had ever set foot on it before. It looked like the untraveled path they were on led directly to the large tree, "I've got along fine without one before; so it doesn't really matter to me." The blond began crying comically, "Plus I've got enough mouths to feed already."

"WOOF!"

Above him, Koneko began hissing while the blond sweat dropped, "Speaking off mouths…"

Three massive slobbering jaws snapped angrily as a three headed dog as large as their school began charging towards them.

"Okay…. Even being bored is better than this." Naruto turned around and promptly began running in the opposite direction while the sound of four paws shaking the earth thundered in his ears, getting closer and closer until he could smell the stink of rotting meat emanating from the three huge maws, "Holy crap, that thing can swallow us whole!"

"It's a Cerberus!"

"Thanks, I really wanted to know how I was going to die!"

There was a loud rush of wind and stink as the beast leapt clean over him. Throwing himself and Koneko to the ground not a moment too soon as one large jaw snapped shut with jarring force above them. Skidding to a stop, Naruto could feel the air rushing above them as the thing hurtled over them with a disappointed hiss at missing the two small fleshy things before landing right in front of them with a thunderous crash.

Throwing Koneko over one shoulder, the blonde hurriedly forming a few hand signs and jumped into the air.

His eyes bulged when he landed right where he started.

"Fuck." Whirling around, his legs began pumping as fast as possible before the massive canine could bite him in three pieces.

"What was _that _for?!" Koneko yelled as she hung on for dear life while the blond sprinted the length of the tree lined path.

"I'm uh… kinda low on chakra at the moment," Naruto replied through labored breathing. Ducking a massive paw, the blond skidded and leapt off the path, "Used most of what I have left at the Match, and the rest on that lake. I didn't really think I was going to need too much!"

Brushing aside branches, the blond exploded through the sparse undergrowth before he hurriedly dropped Koneko as gently as he could under the circumstances. Gathering some branches he quickly covered the protesting girl and threw some pungent powder over her, "Stay here," He whispered urgently, "Don't worry, I'll be back."

Before she could even get a word in edgewise, the blond was already gone, thrashing and making as much noise as possible to draw the Cerberus' attention.

Hissing like an offended cat, Koneko threw off the branches and began stomping after the blond.

She wasn't just some weak little girl, she was a proud and powerful Rook of the Gremory House and not someone to sit around while some simple Pawn thought he could save her by acting the Hero.

Following behind the rumbling sounds of a one dog stampede and the large paw prints in the ground, Koneko burst forth like a coiled spring, her huge leaps taking her a few dozens of meters at a time. Within no time at all, she arrived at the beginning of a narrow path in between two mountains. The sides were nothing sheer faces of rock without any hand holds whatsoever to help a climber.

A burst of energetic barking from inside the path drew her attention back to the task at hand and she ran into the path without any hesitation whatsoever.

No plan either come to think of it, but she still had to save him.

******End Game******

The huge canine barked as Naruto slowly backed up, edging away from the maw filled with sharp, stinking fangs, until his foot felt air. Glancing backwards, Naruto suppressed a quiet groan at the 30 foot sheer drop of a cliff behind him. The right and left heads snapped their jaws ferociously, stopping him from escaping. Not that there was any way to escape anyway, the two of them were in a narrow path formed by two sheer cliffs and another one behind him.

The gigantic dog's three heads huffed three gouts of flame, burning the blond's white shirt a little since he had nowhere to go. Careful not to make any threatening moves, Naruto lifted his hands into the air and addressed the overgrown dog politely, "You don't happen to know where I can find a toilet do you?"

It roared at him and snapped its three jaws with a hungry glint in its eyes. Clearly it had no intent of letting him leave in one piece.

"Well… At least now I know what's for dinner."

Naruto punched the closest head with his bare fist.

It reared back with a pained whine and blinked rapidly, the one in the center gingerly licked its gums, feeling the hole where its incisor used to be before all three doggy heads shared a look of complete disbelief.

"You don't have to look like that," The Uzumaki deadpanned with a vaguely insulted expression, "Yes a tiny five foot tall flesh bag just broke your face. If you still can't believe it, why don't you come over here and let me show you again. I'll even be nice and give all three of you matching looks for free."

The Cerberus roared and charged.

Naruto calmly side stepped the truck sized dog and let it hurtle off the cliff.

"Or… I could just let you run off a cliff." He peered down at the lump of broken flesh and bones at the bottom, "I get dinner either way."

"Naruto, hold on! I'm going to save..." Koneko skidded to a stop and stared at the blond lounging away on the edge of the cliff.

He yawned lazily.

"You….? Where's the dog?"

Naruto gestured to the valley below them, "Ah good timing, Koneko-chan. You mind going down there and bringing my dinner back for me?"

"…Dinner?"

She probably looked as confused as she felt. Peering down the cliff as well, she felt her jaw drop, "Is that the Cerberus?"

"It's also dinner. Can you go get it now?"

She couldn't help it, she began giggling weakly. Walking towards the Uzumaki, she buried her face in his shirt.

The blond looked away, but a gentle smile touched his lips as he rubbed one hand up and down her shaking back.

"It's alright. I said it didn't I? I'm not going anywhere."

******End Game******

"**You have reached the end of this road. Beyond this lies a treasure my Master has entrusted to me, a symbol of his greatness. If you want to violate this sacred ground, you shall not pass without my permission." **

Naruto blinked and his head tilted curiously.

First a huge stinking dog and now some crazy guy guarding a door? He just wanted to visit a tree, was that really so hard?

"Whose your Master? And what exactly is this treasure?"

"**Belphegor the Slothful! Son of the Original Sin himself."** The black knight's deep voice boomed in the valley, "**Beyond this gate lies the remains of the mighty Excalibur, broken by the hand of Belphegor himself! Belphegor himself placed me in this valley to guard this treasure so that it may be a reminder to future generations about his strength and power!" **

"Okay…. So can I have it? Your permission that is."

"…**.. You're not going to fight me?"**

"Do I _have _to?"

"**Uh…. Well he didn't say anything about that, just that they needed my permission… huh?"** The suit of armor shook it's helmet with a loud rattle, **"No, no, I must not let myself be confused, the substance of his order is the same. I must guard the treasure against anyone who wants to steal it!" **

"But I don't WANT to steal it. I don't even KNOW what Excalibur is. I just want to visit that tree over there and going through this valley seems to be a shortcut."

"**Huh? No… wait, that can't be. Belphegor's greatness…."**

"That's the point, you were put here to make sure everyone knew about his greatness." Naruto replied reasonably, "But you've been standing here so long, stopping people from seeing that Treasure that no one even remembers who Belphegor is, or why he's so great since it's too troublesome. Doesn't that mean you've already broken his order by yourself? If this sloth dude wanted to be remembered, shouldn't you have put a sign or something and invite others in to see it? Look at me, I've been a Devil for a few months and I've never even heard of this Bellfy guy." He turned to the amused girl standing beside him, "Do you?"

Koneko shook her head slowly, "…..Never heard."

"…**," **The black armor began vibrating in place as if it was overloading, **"Eh? Huh? Then what do I do now?!"**

"Go and get laid or something?"

"**But I'm an empty piece of armor! I've been here every since I could think, what should I do!?" **

"Uwah… forget getting laid, you need a life."

"**How do I do that?!"**

"Go find a nice piece of bikini armor or something and make baby chain mail I guess?" Naruto offered with an unhelpful grin.

"**Gigigigigigi." **

Naruto casually patted the armor's back with a sympathetic smile and kept on walking.

The small girl trailed behind him after she gave the vibrating suit of armor a polite bow.

"By the way, what's Excalibur?" Naruto asked softly, filled a little reverent awe at the sudden beauty that lay before him the moment they entered the gate.

"The Original Holy Sword. Along with Durandal, Ascalon and Caliburn, the four of them were made by God himself, and almost nothing could match them in sheer power except the Seven Princes of Hell, the original Lucifer, Beelzebub, Satan, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Mammon and Belphegor." Koneko answered as the two of them quietly walked through a green and lust forest, it's vibrant beauty shone around them with an almost jewel like quality, "Excalibur was broken into seven pieces during the last War, but I thought the Angels gathered all the pieces up."

"So why did that guy say that Excalibur is here? Was there an eighth piece or something?"

Koneko shrugged, "I don't know…"

"Would be totally awesome if I found one though," The blond admitted, "That said, I know my luck is too shitty to be THAT good."

"Incidentally, don't say anything about Excalibur to Kiba. If he knew about this, he would do anything within his power to destroy this place." The small white haired walked a little closer to the tall blond, the beauty and purity of the forest made her feel strangely purified, "This place… I don't want to see it gone."

"For a Demon Prince or whatever, this guy has pretty good taste." Naruto agreed with a chuckle, "Why does Kiba hate them so much?" the blond put one arm around her small shoulders, "I would have thought he'd like this Excali-thingy, considering his power is making them and all."

Koneko shook her head mutely, "…Not my secret to tell."

"I'll ask Akeno then." The blond mumbled under his breath as they arrived at the roots of the great tree. "Hooo…"

Both of them craned their necks until it could go no further, but they still couldn't see the tops. The sheer size of the tree had an overwhelming aura to it that made the two of them feel rather inadequate.

"I think we better go in." Naruto finally said in a hushed whisper. Grasping her shoulder, Naruto steered the wide eyed girl into the safety of the gaping cave at the foot of the titanic tree trunk. Breathing a sigh of relief as he felt the tree's hypnotic aura leave him, the blond gazed around the little cubby hole when a blade of sunlight suddenly made it's way through the hole in the roof to illuminate the dark cave.

Sitting in the center of circle of light was a magnificent golden scabbard, lined with intricate royal blue decorations. The scabbard's aura of holiness and power would have been perfect had it not been for the fact that there was a black iron pole of some sort stabbed through its center, cracking the tough metallic scabbard pretty badly.

**[Welcome!]**

The voice didn't just vibrate in the air like normal sound, and as Koneko and Naruto shared a look; they felt it vibrating within their very minds as if something was communicating with them telepathically.

**[You have passed all three tests and gained the right to lay our eyes on the Mighty Excalibur's scabbard, Avalon! Now stretch forth your hand and receive your destiny.]**

Blinking, the blond almost seemed to mindlessly obey.

Stepping forward into the circle of light, he lifted the broken scabbard with shaking hands and turned it over carefully, gazing at its beauty as if to remember it for all time. With a trembling hand, he grasped the hideous black pole that had defeated the scabbard and wrenched it out.

Then he chucked the scabbard in to a corner.

"Okay, I'm done, let's go."

**[HUH?!]**

The blond yawned, "It's getting late, Koneko-chan, let's go before the rest leave us here."

Koneko boggled at him so hard it looked like her eyeballs were going to fall from her head.

**[THE GREAT AVALON IS HERE YOU KNOW!? YOU'RE JUST GOING TO CHUCK IT IN A CORNER AND FORGET ABOUT IT?!]**

"Hmmmm….." Naruto clapped his hand once as if it just dawned on him, "it's too heavy and I don't really need another voice in my head. One is bad enough."

"Wa-wait!" A small yellow thing flitted out of a dark crevice and flew straight into the blond's face, trying to stop him from leaving, "I'm here! I'm not actually in your head, so you can take me now right?!"

His eyes crossed trying to focus on the sobbing little fairy hugging his nose. It had long straight pale yellow hair that reached the back of her knees and it was clad in gold and blue robes though he couldn't see any wings on her, just two hard golden shield like accessories at the side like a beetle and an ornate cap, "Please don't leave me here!"

One yellow eyebrow twitched at the tiny little fairy as she sobbed and hiccupped, leaving snot all over his face.

"No. Too much trouble. Sayonara."

The fairy glared at him indignantly through reddish eyes, "Then what did you come here for?! Why did you defeat all those tests!?"

"What tests?" The blond asked snidely.

"The Lake of Lost Souls, no boat can pass it safely, so you can only fly over it. With how long it is, the Lake is at test of power!"

"Uh… I walked over it?"

"… that uh… counts? We-Well, what about the Great Cerberus, great guardian of this Lost Forest!"

The blond offered her a small piece of roasted meat, "Want some?"

"Uhm… okay." Naruto calmly waited for her to start nibbling on the roasted meat before he spoke, "Your Cerberus ran off a cliff. Then I cooked his ass. That's him by the way."

The fairy's creamy white skin turned blue as she spat out the piece of well seasoned meat.

"What about the Black Knight?!" the small fairy demanded shrilly.

Naruto gestured out the cave's entrance.

"….Why is the Black Knight prancing around the Lost Valley like a five year girl on a sugar high?"

"I had absolutely nothing to do with that." Naruto said with a completely straight face, "I just wanted to visit this tree."

Koneko snorted.

The small thing outright began bawling her eyes out, "I knew it, I knew I was useless. Not even someone who defeated all those challenges wants me because I'm so useless! **WAAAAAAAH**!"

The Uzumaki's eyebrow began twitching violently at the hiccupping little thing as she wiped her snot off with her golden robe.

Slowly, he looked up at the hole in the ceiling, "Now I know for sure you're there and listening because there's no other way my life can be this screwed up," Koneko watched him mumble to somebody that she couldn't see, "When I find you, I am going to Fuck. You. Up."

She could hear the sound of dark clouds rumbling overhead.

Rubbing his eyes, the blond squatted down beside the little golden fairy and poked her tummy with one super sized finger, "Alright, alright, stop crying. First tell me why you think you're useless."

The small glowing thing sniffed cutely and peered up at the gigantic blond. Her pupils, he noticed, were shaped like crosses, "I am or was Excalibur's scabbard. As long as I was in my owner's possession, I was the greatest shield, nothing could hurt him because he had my protection," Her strange amber eyes began watering up again, "But that huge, hairy monster was too powerful." The small little girl grinned viciously at the black pole in Naruto's hands, "He may have broken me but I took his whole damned hand in return. That's his finger right there. He never got it back."

The fire in her eyes dimmed again, "That said, he still cut right through me in the end and broke Excalibur-chan. Without her, I lost all my power as well. They managed to rescue Excalibur-chan's pieces, but I was taken by that stinky ape as a trophy."

She began crying cutely, "Wh-When you came, I-I-I was so happy. Someone finally managed to defeat those guards that the stupid monkey put outside. I-I thought that, even if I was useless, I could finally leave this dark hole again."

The little fairy shuffled around so her back was to him and blew her nose loudly, "its okay, you can go. I'll just sit here for another millennium or so. I can't leave without my real body anyway and it's just a shiny hunk of junk."

Naruto nearly began a screaming fit right then and there.

Scooping up the scabbard and the fairy, he stuffed her into his shirt pocket while the scabbard went into the back of his pants, "Waaa! What are you doing?!"

"Shut up." Naruto muttered as he stomped out of the cave, "Just shut up until I can think of something."

Avalon's eyes went wide as she peered up at him hopefully, "Really?"

"Yes, now be quiet." The blond grunted irritably.

Behind him, Koneko smiled softly as the blond yelped when Avalon threw herself at his face again, sobbing thank yous and wiping snot all over him, "That's disgusting! Stop that!"

Even if he didn't want to do it, he was simply too good of a person to let a small girl like that, even if she _was _an immortal scabbard, stay here alone. It was probably why he hadn't wanted to join them at first and probably the same reason why he had stood up and fought at the Rating Match with the Phoenixes.

He was simply too nice to let bad things happen to other people if he could stop it, but hadn't wanted to get too attached.

******End Game******

**Play ****Rascal Flatts – What Hurts the Most**

Naruto sighed as he trekked through his jungle, feeling a little worn out. When they had regrouped with Rias and the rest, Naruto had found himself talking rather fast to persuade his Princess to let him keep the small fairy while her physical body was carefully hidden away in his backpack. The small exhausted fairy, her glow pulsing with every tiny snore, was fast asleep in his pocket after what had probably been a rather exciting day filled with new things for her.

Calmly tapping several runes hidden in the frame of his door, Naruto tiredly let it swing open and stepped inside. Letting his backpack filled with a golden hunk of junk drop on the floor with a loud thunk, the blond closed the door behind him and wearily made his way to the bed, determined to sleep until next week when he suddenly froze and whirled around.

"I thought it was weird that you were so quiet, Madara. By the way, is that my ramen?"

Deep purple eyes glowed with sadistic glee in his alcove as another shadow made his presence known.

The tall mid aged man glanced at the bowl he was slurping from and grinned stupidly, "Yeah… sorry about that. You're uh… _ friend_ here was nice enough to tell me about those runes, but I didn't know you'd be back so late and I kinda got hungry.

"It's okay." Naruto commented calmly as he gently set Avalon down in a safe spot, "You're still going to pay for those though."

"I'd heard about how you were a penny pincher," The middle aged man with grey streaked through his hair grinned, "Or was I supposed to take that as a threat?"

"Neither really." Naruto replied blandly as he stretched out a hand, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, but I guess you already knew that or you wouldn't be here."

Trying to juggle the bowl and shake the blond's hand at the same time, the old man grinned, "That's a pretty good guess, kid, the name's Azazel."

"And a fallen angel." Naruto noted flatly, "Haven't met many of those who are nice."

The man named Azazel chuckled boisterously, though Naruto noticed that he hadn't let go, "You've been looking in all the wrong places then, kid. The good ones like us are hiding all over the place."

"I see."

The man seemed to blur as Naruto suddenly threw the old man over his shoulder. However instead of being flung across the room, the old man clamped down on the blond's hand and refused to let go. Landing on his free arm, he braced himself despite the ground cracking and returned the favor. The blond tensed as he felt himself being hurled through the air, however he could play the game just as well. Hitting with the wall so hard that he felt his rib cage creaking, Naruto growled and pulled, slamming the man into the wall beside him.

One after another, the two of them seemed to play some sort of insane game, throwing each other one after another until the Fallen Angel jack knifed the blond so hard that he was blasted right out of the shed, iron grip be damned while the black and white haired man strolled out of what was left of the shed.

"You owe me a new house." The blond muttered and hoped that Avalon was safe. He had tucked her into her scabbard and hopefully, she wouldn't wake up until he had the time to dig her out.

"We'll see."

"I assume the head told you everything about me?" Naruto bit out in pain as he slowly climbed out of the crater he was in.

"Some. Most of it we already knew. That being said, your friend was very sure to remind us not to give you time to gather your wits or you'd really be dangerous." Azazel commented with an accommodating grin as he blocked a punch, "You have to understand though. All of us who have the power can feel it when someone crosses through the Dimensional Gap, especially when a certain grumpy dragon didn't give permission. Even if you didn't know it, a lot of people have been watching you the entire time."

The two of them exchanged a flurry of blows that shook the air around them, "You must have been pretty disappointed to see that your little intruder was completely normal, if a little confused, no?" Naruto growled.

"A little," Azazel admitted, "Even more so when Rias-chan suddenly up and saved your life, automatically putting classifying you as a Devil."

He's leg flashed, too fast for the blond to even react and caught him in the chest.

The blond sailed through the air in a perfect air before crashing with a massive bang. Coughing and hacking up blood, the blond struggled to even sit upright, "So you're here to ex… cough…terminate a potential threat?"

"Not exactly. I was just sent here to test you by a mutual acquaintan-"

He was cut off by the blond putting on a spurt of speed. Reflexively, Azazel flung a straight jab as he leaned back to avoid the blond's punch. The blond grunted as he took the blow on the shoulder but pressed on, his already outstretched arm suddenly opened into a palm that Naruto flicked across the man's eyes. Blocking out his eyesight, Naruto stomped on the man's foot, stopping him from backing away and simultaneously smashed an elbow into his sternum. The blow pushed him back but the blond's foot stopped him from going anyway where Naruto leapt up and gave him a full roundhouse kick to the forehead.

Stumbling back at the powerful blow, Azazel coughed a few times before he chuckled, "Yes, that's good. An experienced fighter, skilled with misdirection but not exactly strong enough." He straightened up and ran one hand through his hair suavely, the bruise on his forehead already melting away, "You might hit hard for a normal person, but for people like us, tricks like that barely count a mosquito bite. Even with this... Sage Mode of yours, you'd be pretty hard-pressed to do anything against us."

Naruto panted heavily, his arms hung limply. He barely had enough strength to lift them anymore, when the man's steel tipped boot crashed into his chin, sending him flying over backwards again.

"Hahahaha!" the head who was rolling around on the ground laughed loudly and happily as the battered blond hit the ground and skidded to a smoking stop, "Finally! You can talk a nice speech when you have the power, but you're pretty silent now aren't you?"

One blue eye opened tiredly and glanced at the head, as Azazel loomed above him.

"Where's your BELIEVE IN ME now? Where's that unshakable faith?" The head kept rolling around like a demented ball, "Not so unshakable without a purpose or power now are you?"

It stopped laughing and stared at the downed blond with something resembling pity, "You could talk because you didn't know how it truly felt, but now without a reason, you can't live can you? You can't help but just surviving, with the knowledge that everybody you left behind is partying happily over your grave and on their way to the next Shinobi World War, doubting that you made a difference, but the worst part is that you'll never know if they all just died."

The blond slowly rose again before Azazel kicked his knees out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground on his knees.

The head spat at the kneeling boy viciously, "Take away a saint's belief and what do you get?. Nothing but a simple, broken, WEAK man who doesn't know how to deal with the world without his faith. You were strong then because they were there, you could see them, their faces. It's easy to believe in that, but now? You only have your doubts left."

Forcing his legs to stand again, the battered blond swayed in place with a bloody smile, "You…." He shuddered heavily as he felt a broken rib poke his lungs with each labored breath, "Talk too much, Madara."

The blond hacked out a mouthful of blood, "I haven't lost my faith in **anything**. I still believe that every I did was worth it, that they will build a proper world for the next generation that not only remembers all our sacrifices, but is strong enough to make the choice to keep walking forward as well. I'm just waiting for **it **to happen."

Both of them blinked in a nonplussed manner, "For what?"

"It? You think you're in some sort of manga where you get saved at the last second?" Madara began laughing at the sheer idiocy of it all when Azazel's eyes widened and he stumbled as his vision went blurry, "Wh-what?"

"And there it is."

Despite his black eye and bruised face, the blond shambled over to the kneeling Azazel who was puking his guts out for no obvious reason. Calmly, he kicked the man in the side and knelt down, pressing one knee to the man's windpipe, "Madara got one thing right, give me enough time to get ready, and there's very few things that can beat me. Unfortunately, you chose to fight me** here** of all places and I've been here long enough."

"Th-The ra-ramen?!" Azazel choked out as he felt his consciousness slowly fading away and panic set in, "Who the hell poisons their own food?!" the middle aged man wheezed in a high pitched squeak as he scrabbled at the knee cutting off his airways but the blond remained, as still and absolute like a silent mountain as he watched the light go out of Azazel's eyes.

"Me, for one." the blond commented dryly as he slowly turned around to glare at the apprehensive head, "We are going to have a **very** long talk about this, aren't we Madara?"

"Oh fuck."

******End Game******

"Wake up."

Azazel dry heaved and retched as he felt someone splashing water on him. Shaking the droplets out of his air, the disorientated man looked around wildly and realized they were in an underground bunker of some sort. Glancing down, he tried to see if he could burst out of his binds when he realized he wasn't tied up.

Not that that would have helped, he could feel _nothing _below his neck, and for one terrible moment, Azazel thought that the blond had actually severed his spine.

"Where the hell is this?" He asked the blank faced blond sitting on a box, staring at Azazel with those curiously unemotional eyes as he bandaged his torso.

"Under the city. In the sewers to be precise. Now I want some answers."

"Hey, hey, don't shoot the messenger," Azazel laughed nervously, "I was being honest. A mutual acquaintance sent me here to test you so that I could be certain if you were worth the trouble."

"I see…"

The middle aged man nervously watched the blond pull out a tube. Tipping it over a murky blue liquid slowly filled up a spoon. Shutting his lips tight, Azazel glared at Naruto until the blond gave him a dry look.

He jabbed the Fallen Angel's eyes.

"OW-"

And stuffed the contents of the spoon into the Fallen Angel's mouth the moment he opened it to curse, "URK!"

"What the hell was that?!" He choked out.

"Toilet Blaster," He glanced at the little tube and continued with an absolutely straight face, "Uzumaki brand. Buy one free one; just don't ask what's in it."

"Are you insane?!" the angel shrieked, "Do you know who I AM!? I AM AZAZEL, THE LEADER OF –" Naruto shut him up via another spoonful of pipe cleaner.

"Don't worry, you won't die. I have it on good authority that our bodies are stronger than regular people….. At worst, you're just going to be spending the rest of your month in a toilet."

"That doesn't comfort me at all!"

"Then you better start telling me why a Fallen Angel like you is REALLY here." Naruto gave the spoon in his hand a significant look.

A bead of nervous sweat ran down the Angel's forehead as he stared at the liquid filled spoon like it was a guillotine hovering over his neck. He didn't know how, but the insane blond's human concoctions actually **worked **on supernatural beings like them for some reason.

He could already feel his tummy gurgling painfully as his pipes were… cleaned. Vigorously.

Azazel had always thought he would go while fighting in a glorious battle or in bed with twenty women.

Not explosive diarrhea.

"Lo-look, I'm sorry for everything, but a mutual acquaintance really did ask me to make sure you were trustworthy and lend you a helping hand!"

Naruto wrinkled his nose thoughtfully before adding, "I hope you ate your veggies or this is going to be a very long month for you because I'm pretty sure I don't know anybody who would randomly ask someone to help me, a Fallen Angel no less."

The blond's expression of complete boredom as he gave his advice did nothing to quell Azazel's fear because it just meant that the blond really didn't have even a shred of mercy for him.

"You… You DEMON!"

"Yeah, I am a demon, what about it?" Naruto immediately replied in an utterly apathetic manner as he force fed the squirming Fallen Angel another dose of nuclear level drain cleaner, "And I'm going to keep being one until you fess up."

His stomach practically began rumbling and Azazel's face scrunched up like he just ate an extra large lemon, "I'm HONEST! I SWEAR ON MY FATHER, MY NONEXISTENT MOTHER, MY ONE THOUSAND CHILDREN AND ON MY TWO GOLDEN TESTICLES," the sobbing angel squealed and wriggled as he felt his digested lunch getting ready to shoot out his other end, "I'M REALLY HERE TO GIVE YOU A SACRED GEAR! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY LET ME GO TO THE TOILET!"

The blond observed the squirming, moaning man for a few moments.

"Alright… I believe you."

Azazel sighed in relief but his relief was cut short when the blond tapped his chin and poured the whole fucking bottle into the Fallen Angel's guts anyway, "Didn't say I was going to let you off easy though. Do you know how much of a pain it is to heal nowadays? I'm going to be limping for ages."

"**GYAAAAAH! IT'S COMING OUT IT'SCOMINGOUTIT'SCOMINGOUTIT'SCOMINGOUT!"**

Beneath a squirming Azazel, there was a muffled shouting from the severed head that was Madara, "**IT'SLEAKINGIT'SLEAKINGIT'SLEAKING, OH KAMI IT'S IN MY MOUTH!"**

******End Game******

Naruto curiously looked around the room of the small, nondescript bungalow located in the outskirts of the city, or as Azazel had called it, '**Casa Angelus'**.

Naruto called it a train wreck.

The place didn't look like it had seen a mop in months and all kinds of fast food containers littered the insides.

"You alright in there?"

There was the sound of a toilet flushing before the familiar looking Fallen Angel stomped out his toilet with a stormy expression. Giving the blond an imperious finger, he dared the blond to say something about the smell with his eyes.

The blond simply shrugged as he whirled a head around by its long ragged hair like a yoyo.

Madara's eyes had gone swirly but the poor thing couldn't even say a word because Naruto had stuffed a few worms into its mouth and duct taped it shut.

"So? What's this about a Gear? And why me anyway? Just because I came from another dimension isn't really a good excuse." The blond carefully kicked a mountain of pizza boxes of the cleanest chair so he could perch on it as he continued to torture the head, "Even I can see how stupid giving a potential weapon to someone whose allegiance you don't know is."

Aazel grunted as he pressed a button.

Behind him, a shelf slid back to reveal row upon row of glowing little orbs that hung in mid air, "Our friend told me you were loyal to the Gremory girl though."

"Then you heard wrong." Naruto pointed out clinically, "Besides, if it's the Gremory you want to help then you should have asked the rest of her Peerage. Even at their worst, they are more devoted to her than I am on my best day."

The black and white haired man shrugged with a wrinkled nose as his tummy gurgled loudly again, "I asked him the question, you weren't exactly my first candidate. If our friend wanted to give someone an Artificial Sacred Gear, even that cat girl would have been a better and more stable choice but he insisted it had to be you. Said something about a different mindset."

"You sure you didn't mistake me with Issei?"

"Issei? That Red Dragon kid? Sure he's strong, and he represents a fresh mindset for you Devils, but let's look at it honestly. Yeah I can see how people might think that's an asset, how his honesty is like a breath of fresh air etc etc, but our friend said he can't do what is necessary. You on the other hand…."

"Okay… let's look at this from another angle then, I've already proven that I can handle myself, even against you. So why do I need this?"

"Why in the world are you so against this?" Azazel asked curiously, "Do you ALWAYS scan the shit out of presents that people give you?"

"It kept me alive this long didn't it?"

"Fine, fine. You might be pretty strong and skilled from what I've seen, which is probably why he has asked me to give you a Sacred Gear instead of the rest. To me though, you're like a crutch character in one of those RPGs right now. In the early game, where Rias and her Peerage is right now, sure you're powerful, a good bonk to the head and you're good. A trick and everything's fine and dandy. But what happens when you come up against someone like me? Someone who will hit you hard and fast? Someone who managed to catch you off guard but won't screw around like I did? Who won't lose even if you drop a **mountain **on him? What's going to happen then? You'll become **redundant **as everyone else keeps getting stronger while YOU can't catch up. Can you honestly tell me you'll play around and keep relying on your tricks in that situation?"

Azazel grumpily waved at the shelves full of lights, "That is why my goal today, was to help you stay competitive by giving you an Artificial Sacred Gear, and if you can do that, you can protect that Gremory girl." He paled as his tummy rumbled again, "That being said, feel free to look through them and pick out what you want while I excuse myself."

The blond grinned as the Fallen Angel hurried to the toilet again and slammed it shut behind him.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Naruto carefully inspected the labels he found underneath each container that held a floating light.

It was a few long minutes later when the toilet flushed again and a deathly pale Azazel limped out of the toilet, "You…. Urp… found anything you like yet? Pick carefully," The middle aged man said with a warning tone as Naruto opened his mouth to say something, "because once I've put it in you, I can't take it out, or add another one. At least not yet."

"Yeah… just wondering, what this one does." He pointed at a small dark orange orb, the label underneath it said; _Super Luck._

"Oh that one. Luck is the domain of my old boss, so I was trying to see if I could replicate it. You can be as skillful or as powerful as you want, but when Lady Luck shits on you, she shits hard." The middle aged man grunted as his tummy growled painfully, "I should know."

"And? Did it work?" the blond asked calmly.

"Not really," Azazel admitted, "All it seems to do is let you steal panties without getting killed."

"I want that." The blond instantly said.

"Didn't I say pick **carefully**?"

"I did. I want Super Luck." The blond chirped happily.

"Super Luck? Seriously?" Azazel spluttered incredulously, "My preferences aside, even if you don't want something cool, can't you pick something a little more... I don't know, **useful**?" the middle aged man yelled at the stupidly smiling boy.

"Stealing panties IS useful."

By the look on his face, Azazel could tell that the blond was being completely sincere.

The idiot really did think it was useful.

Then again, the other half of Rias' two pawns was a complete idiot who powered up with perverseness, who was he to judge?

The Fallen Angel shrugged wearily as he gave up, "It's up to you, if you want to waste a golden chance like this it's not my problem. I'm just going to do what I was paid to do and that's that. Though he better pay me double for the toilet duty." Waving at the blond, he gestured for him to enter a small dark chamber off to the side of the room.

"Is it safe?"

"Of course it's safe. If you don't believe that, at least believe that I'm going to do my best so I don't have to see your ugly mug again for the rest of my life."

"Yeah, that I can trust." The blond happily stepped into the chamber with a grin as the doors shut tightly with a hydraulic hiss.

"Mmpphmph!"

Then Fallen Angel who was typing in orders barely briefly glanced up at the head that Naruto had dropped on the couch, "What is it?" He asked irritably.

Madara gave him a significant look and tried to mumble something.

Despite his better judgement, Azazel pulled off the tape with a roll of his eyes, "What now?"

"Any chance of getting me in there so I can bite his throat out?" The head asked with a hopeful glint in his eyes.

"Ask me again when I'm done shitting my guts out in a month or so." His stomach rumbled loudly and Madara wrinkled his nose as an offensive smell wafted around him.

"Ah… pity. It was such a good chance though." He stared at the boy in the chamber, "Keh. After all that, no matter how much of an asshole he tries to be to other people, he still draws people who can see the good in him like flies to honey. Despite everything he endured, he still believes like an idiot."

Azazel blinked and stared at the head, "Is it me or did I just hear you praise him? Thought you hated his guts."

**Play Hataraku Maou OST – The Strength of a Hero and a Devil**

"Oh I hate him," Madara agreed, "I hate him so much that I want him to die now, but hate and respect are two different things. Imagine if you will a sword. But this sword is somewhat special in that it is the crystallization of a father's creative genius, his mother's sheer tenacity and a titanic, almost endless source of power. With this sword, he was practically born to be a conqueror or a God even. However, because of the circumstances at his birth, one that I'm quite proud to admit I somewhat engineered, he grew up not knowing the value of this sword. He was basically walking around, holding it by the pointy end and hurting himself the entire time. Years passed, and still no one told him he was holding it the wrong way. Despite that, he fixed a goal for himself and made for it like rabbit."

The head paused for a moment to let it sink in, "With nothing but sheer balls and guts, he whacked away at the trees and stones in his path, and won't you believe it? He might not have gotten as far as he'd like, but he still chopped down half a forest with the wrong end of a sword. The year or so before we arrived in this piss hole, someone finally had the decency to tell him he was holding the sword the wrong way, and you know what? The son of a bitch practically demolished the forest in one day. He was on a roll; nothing could stop him…. Nothing that is, until he had found something that was worth far more than that sword. The Death God may have taken away his sword, leaving him nothing but a completely normal human but Naruto adapted. He couldn't throw his weight around with the same toughness he used to have, or the same sense of power and purpose, but he still had his father's creativity. And the entire time he was here, he was honing that creativity to its very limits just so he could survive a world he knew nothing about."

The head smiled grudgingly.

There was no one he hated, or respected, more than Hashirama, but this crazy, eccentric blond Namikaze came closer than his father ever did.

He proved, that even if he was ripped away from everything important to him, robbed of his birthright and depowered into a normal human, even if he became a Devil, he was first and foremost, someone that never wavered, who accepted the world's burden, simply because he could.

He was a Hero.

"He may have become a slave to a new player. He may picked up a pathetic little fairy who can't do anything other than literally be a burden. He may have chosen a functionally useless Sacred Gear and he may not have the massive reserves he used to have," Madara said with a grudging respect, "But in the end it won't matter who Naruto is up against, because you can be damned sure it's not the mountain the poor sod has to worry about."

The chamber began glowing brightly as strands of energy began whirling rapidly around the blond inside, wrapping around his torso and they watched the blond grin to himself as he felt his consciousness leaving him.

"It's Naruto himself."

******End Game******

Blue eyes slowly opened and Naruto released a powerful but calm breath filled with resolve.

Before him was an empty corridor that looked like it belonged in a super sized industrial freezer. Frost lined the sides and corners as a freezing waft blew, beneath his feet he could see a blue turgid liquid struggling to flow through the icy walls.

He took one step forward and had to brace himself against the powerful wind trying to blow him back.

Step upon step, he fought the wind, occasionally having to entirely stop to dig his way through walls of sheer ice. He didn't know how long he had to dig, but he continued pushing through the main hall, there was no point taking turns because they all led to the same place.

The same great jail that he now stood before.

Inside, curled into a massive huge red ball of fur, trying to conserve heat was a shivering kitsune. One great ruby eye opened and the fox growled weakly, **"Lo-long time no see, flesh bag."**

"A-At least you can still yammer." The blue faced blond limped through the gaps between the great iron bars before falling down beside one super sized paw. The enormous ball of fur shifted weakly and Naruto felt one of the kitsune's long ears flop down on him. Immediately the tiny bit of warmth stopped his shivering by a little.

"**Better than back then."** The fox growled back.

Naruto laughed lowly, "Yeah, wh-when we first got here, you were no-nothing but one huge block of ice. This world do-doesn't like us."

"**Be grateful for that red furred vixen then. If she hadn't turned you into demons, I might still be one." **

Naruto couldn't help the small smirk, "Why do you think I stayed with her? It was precisely because I was grateful… doesn't mean I was going to be all gung ho about being her slave though." The blond laughed weakly, "By the way, **grateful? **You're nothing but one huge sappy fur ball you know that? What happened to burn and kill everything?"

"I'm too cold to bother." Kurama replied wistfully, "If only you can bring Madara's head in here. Now** that** I don't mind burning, and since he can't die or regain his body because he's stuck like us, that stupid head will burn forever. Or it will until I piss all over it."

"Thanks for the idea." Naruto's eye lids began feeling like they weighed a ton as he chuckled weakly, "Good times eh? Look at us now…." The blond grunted as he gazed around the dark chamber with discontent and faint anger, "Look at that color… so weak and watery."

"**Maybe that Sacred thingy will be enough to convince whatever governs this world that we're part of it. Or at the very least, even a stiff wind is better than this permanent blizzard."**

"That was what I thought too…."

"**Heh…. Everything's going according to plan eh?"**

"Yeah…. Very soon, you won't be cold anymore…"

" **Naruto?"**

"Hmmm?"

"**You still think it was worth it?"**

"Every little bit."

The great eye glanced downwards and realized that the blond had fallen unconscious.

Grunting, the titanic mythical fox painstakingly used whatever was left of his strength to wrap his long tails around the small body.

"**Haah….. good times." **

******End Game******

_**Play Iwasaki Taku – Libera Me From Hell**_

_The ghostly chill radiating from the entity increased suddenly as it chuckled at the gathered Leaders, a deep soul wracking laugh, __**"And why exactly do you think that your life, any one of yours are worth more than a thousand others?" **_

"_These Kage are not worth anything. That's why it has to be us."__ The younger blond's black and gold cloak shifted in the wind as a vaguely canine head formed out of the high necked cloaked made of strangely substantial golden flame, __"Because I am with him."_

"_**You? Something like you would do this for some puny humans?"**__ The Death God's sunken eyes glinted with amusement at the long eared fox, __**"Oh this is precious. You don't HAVE a soul, Kurama, but taking your existence will be just as good."**_

"_I have one more condition though." Naruto replied bluntly as he shoved his father's protesting arms away from him and pointed at a surprised Madara, "I want him permanently gone as well, gone as in nothing no one can ever do will bring him back like Orochimaru did to my father. Do you accept or not? "_

_One thin and mummified hand reached up and shoved the insubstantial dagger into the blond's chest with glee, causing the blond to grunt as an extreme pain surged through his very existence, but not a single scream escaped his lips. _

"_**I accept! Whether or not you can get him to go, well… that's your problem."**_

_The blond's golden cloak flared as he disappeared with a speed that far exceeded his father's prized Hiraishin jutsu and Madara's reflexes kicked into high gear as he bent over backwards, his foot crashing into Naruto's jaw but not before a green blade cut off his arm. _

"_Oh no, you're not getting me that easily." The Uchiha cackled, his arm already regenerating, as the blond was sent rocketing back. An almost visible aura of power began expanding from the Ten Tails as a chasm opened beneath its bloated feet. Bit by bit, it began to sink into the void as Naruto fought Madara with a terrible ferocity. _

_The rest of the shinobi and all their Leaders could only watch helplessly as the expanding aura made sure they could do nothing more than beat their fists on the shield uselessly while Madara sent a furious stream of white flames at the blond, taunting Naruto with his uselessness, "You couldn't stand up to me with all of them at your back, what makes you think you can force me to go as well?!"_

_Naruto grunted with pain as he endured the inferno around him, burning the skin of his right hand into a crisp before a soothing golden aura enveloped it, "Because I believe in them, and because I am going to be the next Hokage!" _

"_How does that make ANY sense? You're just prolonging the inevitable." The dark haired Uchiha commented blandly as the two of them exchanged blows so rapidly their limbs were nearly invisible to the naked eye. _

"_It's the Hokage's duty to protect those under us. That's why I'm doing this." The blond replied stubbornly as he took a blow to the sternum, but ignored the pain and locked the joint under him before he tried to stomp on Madara's foot. The two of them rapidly began a flowing dance of sorts as Naruto tried to pin him down, "Even if you drag me into hell with you, with the ecosystem the way it is, if they don't fight each other to the death over scraps of food, they will slowly go extinct anyway." _

_Madara easily let the blond break his arm before he returned the favor by breaking the boy's nose with his forehead, the force of the blow was enough to send Naruto rocketing away again before Madara's great SusanoO flared into existence. _

_The Uzumaki was indeed more powerful, and slightly faster than he was, but Madara had decades of experience behind him, and the absolute power of the Rinnegan. _

_One huge foot ponderously rose before it stomped on the tiny dot that was Naruto, crushing the young boy under one foot like a bug._

"_**KAAAAAAH!" **_

_Sakura looked away at the blond's scream of pain. _

_As the dust slowly blew away, Madara blinked. Under his foot, the blond was on his knees, the ground beneath his hands and knees was completely shattered but he was still alive and pushing back useless._

_Grinning, he stomped harder, crushing the blond even more, "Why don't you beg me, Naruto-chan? Since their going to die anyway, I don't mind going if you put your head to the ground and beg me like a dog." _

_Naruto heaved painfully underneath the crushing pressure. His left hand had been crushed beyond all recognition but he refused to give up. _

_But no matter what, he refused to let his head band, his hitaite with the Leaf's symbol imprinted on it to touch the ground. _

"_I always knew that I'm an idiot." Naruto whispered, "No matter what anyone said, or how much they rationalized it, I never understood why my parents abandoned me, but I just ignored it…. Then the same thing happened to Sandaime jiji, he sacrificed himself for Konoha. All of them. I knew that Konoha was important to them, much more than me, but I didn't understand why, I just wanted to be Hokage because if it was good enough for them, then it was good enough for me."_

"_Even Orochimaru and Sasuke? Two of the most wanted criminals in the world?" Madara cackled, "You're throwing your life for sick bastards like them?"_

_Even them." Naruto replied resolutely._

_Ignoring the pain in his crushed arm, the blond slowly staggered upright with the great foot on his shoulders. _

"_I may have hated him for killing Sandaime-jiji, but he showed me that people could change. He did a lot of bad things, but I believe that he will spend the rest of his life atoning for them!"_

_No matter the burden, he would carry it, because he dreamed of being the Hokage. _

"_But it's not just them. Everyone I have ever met, ever laughed with, talked with, exchanged fists with. As they entered my life, something changed. Sandaime-jiji, Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-nee chan, Kakashi-sensei, Gaara, Bee, Sasuke, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, Ino-chan, Kiba-baka, Lee, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji… and Neji…" The blond trailed off with another heave._

_Madara blinked again and frowned as he was being pushed back despite putting all his strength beneath his foot to crush the blond, "They entered my life and passed me by, but they left foot prints. Each foot print represented their own ideals and I looked at them even if they conflicted with mine."_

_The Uchiha grunted as he brought his foot up and brought it down again with ten times as much power, but this time the blond stood tall and stopped it with one hand without even budging though the ground beneath him buckled. _

_His cloak burned brighter and brighter when Madara was suddenly thrown away with a yelp while a giant fox like entity made of golden flames with black rune markings on its body slowly staggered upright. Each blow was powerful enough to shake the Heavens and send everybody falling around but the fox still rose until the Uzumaki and the Uchiha were face to face._

_Only the Kage stayed upright as they watched, determined to witness the titanic battle until the very last spark. _

_This was their respect to a simple boy who had grown up alone and isolated but still had the strength of character to rise above it. _

"_It's very tempting to vent on others, to inflict pain on them the same way others had inflicted on you, even I fell to this." Hashirama admitted quietly, "Madara killed my relatives and I who was consumed by anger returned it tenfold. It takes a better man than me to stand up like he has…. No… a better Hokage."_

_He glanced at Tobirama, "What do you say?"_

_The white haired man with flaking skin merely smirked wryly as he made some handsigns, "When have my objections ever made a difference?" his chakra flowed out of him, seeking and solidifying drops of condensation all across the world, displaying the battle in all its glory to everybody who was still alive. _

"_Then I met JIraiya-sensei and Nagato. They passed their Will of Fire down to me, along with a question and I slowly I understood. Nagato had the right idea even if he didn't know what to do with it. I am strong because I know pain; I know the pain of loneliness and the pain of loss. But unlike him, I rose above that pain and accepted their principles. All of them, all of the people here today, and all of the people who died fighting for our freedom, they are my precious people. That's why I want to be Hokage. I would fight for them because I was given this body, this mind and this strength. I was given Kurama because I could stand up for them when they couldn't, I cry out for them because they cannot." _

"_That is just sophistry, Boy!" Madara roared, the concentric rings of his Rinnegan spinning furiously as the two of them collided again and again. His anger fuelled SusanoO until the giant Kyuubi crashed against the deep blue wall, "No matter what you say, you know reality doesn't work that way!" _

_Crashing into each other, Madara began beating down the fox with his bare hands; its golden hide began flickering under the vicious barrage as Madara tore the glowing fox apart. Skills, jutsu, everything had been forgotten in his anger at an insolent child who thought he had all the answers._

"_Even if you defeat me and pass down this story of pain. Sure it'll last for a generation or two, but then everything will go back to the way it was! Those children will only regard them as simple stories until their greed overcomes their good sense because they haven't experienced it themselves; much like your own generation has disregarded the pain that our War brought!" Madara screamed with blind rage as he tore off the fox's arm, "The wars and hatred will go on, unless I force them to change. that is why my Moon Eye Plan is the only way! Without that selfish desire, there will be NO MORE PAIN!" _

_The two massive beings of sheer energy, so dense that it was solid, collided in a mighty, earth shaking crash and SusanoO punched the fox so hard that the world seemed to shake, causing Naruto to stumble backwards onto the shield again with a ponderous throb that rattled the very air. _

_Hashirama grinned and turned to his granddaughter, "And you, Tsunade?" _

"_It was what I was going to do anyway." The blond Slug Sage answered flatly as if she understood what he was asking, "But Madara has a point. After the war, after I watched everybody go back to their lives as though nothing had happened, as though people had not died so they could happily drink beer, I burned with anger. Only Hiruzen-sensei stopped me from taking it out on all those ungrateful idiots who celebrated Dan's death while he got nothing but his name scratched out on a piece of rock." _

"_Then we just have to help him find the answer don't we?" turning around, his voice rose, "Shinobi of Konoha! We cannot fight in his place, but we can give him our support, __**SHOUT, ROAR, SCREAM AND SHOW YOUR ROKUDAIME HOKAGE THAT YOU ARE WITH HIM IN SPIRIT!"**_

"_**UWWWWOOOOOH! ROKUDAIME! ROKUDAIME!"**_

_On the ground, the one armed fox lay, panting. The blond's eyes were closed but his lips still curled up into an honest smile as he heard the chants._

_The acknowledgement. _

_Battered and panting, he still rose. _

_Because he was the Sixth Generation Hokage. _

_His father did it, the Third did it, and as the Sixth, he could do no less. _

"_That's where you were wrong, Madara!" The blond roared through bloody teeth as he deflected the next punch with his remaining arm and shoulder checked SusanoO in ribs. _

_The long haired Uchiha growled and roared as he staggered backwards, "WHY ARE YOU STILL FIGHTING? YOU ALREADY KNOW IT IS FUTILE!" _

"_Because you take away their ability to make that decision, their free will, it's nothing but a cage. They haven't learned and they will never understand the significant of taking that decision themselves, of RISING ABOVE THEIR OWN LIMITS, RISING ABOVE THE DESIRE TO LASH OUT AT OTHERS! RISING ABOVE YOUR LIMITS!"_

_SusanoO took another blow to the chin, sending it flying into the air._

"_That's right, YOUR limit, NOT OURS! Just because you can't move on from your pain, just because you can't do it you think others can't?!" The fox hurled itself at the downed SusanoO and ripped Madara out of the apparition with its jaws, "Don't simply put some stupid ceiling on us!" _

_A small dot rocketed out of the fox, causing it to freeze, before dissipating into nothing. _

_The small speck crashed into Madara in mid air and fit one arm underneath the zombie's chin, "I am the Sixth Hokage, and I want to believe, no, I BELIEVE! This limit of yours, we will break it and we will show you the greatness of the human spirit! If you can't believe in them because they are weak, then believe in me who believes in them! My trust in their ability to grow beyond that WILL NEVER FAIL! If they find themselves being tempted, then they just have to remember that THERE IS AT LEAST ONE PERSON WHO BELIEVES THEY WILL DO THE RIGHT THING!" _

_He ripped off Madara's head. _

_The entire army went silent and watched as the two of them crashed into the ground with a massive bang that threw up a cloud of dust. _

_A cold wind blew across the horizon and chased the dust cloud away as Naruto slowly stumbled out of the crater, carrying a head by its long hair. Around them, shredded pieces of ethereal energy, the remains of the gigantic golden fox and SusanoO fell like a glowing rain. _

"_Naruto!" _

_The gold and black cloak around his shoulders was in tatters and his blood ran freely down his back as he smiled wanly at the people thumping at the shield weakly. _

_Every single person with a pair of optical organs in their heads could see that the blond didn't have enough strength left to even crawl, much less stay upright, but that was exactly what he was doing. _

_Glancing aside, he saw the Death God, waiting for him with an intense gaze, nod once. _

_Taking a deep breath, he took one shaky step through the settling dust._

"_I… never thought of True Peace as a utopia where there are no conflicts." _

_It was so weak that it was barely a whisper, but his broad shoulders still stayed straight and proud, and his words were carried to everybody else as he slowly stepped deeper into the void, "Every day I spent with all of you was special. Even though we had different ideas and thoughts, the time we spent clashing, fighting and learning is too precious to lose because it molded me to be the person I am."_

_He stumbled a little before steadying himself with a shaky gasp. _

"_Maybe the me of yesterday would have chosen differently, but I can't go back to him because he doesn't exist anymore." _

_He began walking into the darkness, willingly, voluntarily as his golden cloak fluttered proudly in the stiff wind, "I know that as time passes, the lessons learnt today will become dull and pointless in the future, that is why, this is my first and last order as the Rokudaime Hokage. Never let your children forget the meaning behind the tears shed today. "_

_He lifted his injured arm and gave them one last thumbs up over his shoulder._

"_See ya." _

******End Game******

**End Chapter 6**

To see what Avalon's physical representation looks like; go to profile as usual. I would ask whoever made it for permission, but I have no idea where it came from or who made them.

I'm uploading this in the airport by the way. Kishi is beside me, waving like an idiot.


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